Covid-19 regarded prefer it might have introduced concerning the finish of film theaters. Theaters couldn’t present films. Among the largest American theater chains have been on the point of chapter. And US film studios began flirting with an concept: releasing films digitally and in theaters on the identical time.
The “theatrical window,” when a film performs solely in theaters, usually has a minimal size set by offers between film studios and film theaters. You would possibly bear in mind a time when the theatrical window was lengthy and also you needed to wait near a yr earlier than a film would come out on video or DVD. However through the years, as choices for dwelling viewing have proliferated, that window has shrunk. By 2019, many films have been turning into accessible at dwelling lower than three months after their unique launch.
Behind that shrinking window have been decades-long negotiations between theaters and studios over how lengthy that window must be — and it appeared as if film studios had steadily gotten the higher hand. Then the pandemic gave studios leverage like by no means earlier than. Now they may bypass film theaters altogether.
However in the long run, they selected to not. Massive films nonetheless come out in theaters first. The theatrical window nonetheless exists. Why?
You will discover this video and all of Vox’s movies on YouTube.