Paramount Exec Marc Weinstock Has Faith Streaming and Movie Theaters Can Still Coexist (Video)
With his studio still enjoying a wildly successful 2022 with the new horror film “Smile,” Paramount marketing president Marc Weinstock joined TheWrap’s annual industry summit TheGrill for a conversation on the film industry and the ongoing push and pull between movie theaters and streaming.
Weinstock was joined by former IMAX Entertainment CEO Greg Foster for a virtual one-on-one discussion that began with a rundown of Paramount’s numerous box office hits this year, including “The Lost City” “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” and the year’s highest grossing film “Top Gun: Maverick.”
While “Maverick” took up much of the discussion, Weinstock noted that “Lost City” and “Sonic 2” were seen as big wins for Paramount not only for helping to bring women and families back to theaters, but also in drawing in new subscribers to Paramount+ when they were released on streaming after the 45-day theatrical exclusivity window.
Weinstock sees that success as an example of how the recent industry-wide move cutting the long-standing 90-day window in half for many theatrical films is one that has allowed theaters and streaming to coexist in a media environment that has radically changed since the pandemic began.
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“I think 45 days is the perfect length for the window,” Weinstock said. “I think ‘Lost City,’ if I recall, is the most watched film on [Paramount+]. So you take a good box office result and a great streaming result, and all boats have been lifted.”
But streaming has undeniably changed the family/animation section of the film industry, as studios like Disney have pivoted films like “Turning Red” and “Hocus Pocus 2” to streaming rather than theatrical. While Weinstock pointed to “Sonic 2” and Universal/Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” as proof that family moviegoing isn’t going away anytime soon, he does think there will be less animation on the theatrical slate going forward.
“Is DreamWorks still going to make movies under Universal? Fox made a ton of animated movies, but are they going to stop under Disney?” he asked. “In that world, it felt like we used to have an animated movie every month. I think that’s going to slow down and we’re going to see less movies, but I think those movies are going to do better.”
Weinstock and Foster also discussed how Paramount chose to move “Top Gun: Maverick” from a November 2021 release to Memorial Day weekend at a time when movie theater executives were pleading with studios to put out as many new films as possible to support cinemas starved by the COVID-19 pandemic. That ended up being the right move as “Maverick” is now one of the top 5 highest grossing films ever in North America before inflation adjustment and sports a global cume of $1.48 billion.
Weinstock said that concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were a factor behind that move, but ultimately it came down to Paramount’s faith in “Maverick” as a summer blockbuster that could perform for months.
“The DNA of this movie was a summer movie,” he said. “We were sad to leave our initial date when we were going to come out in June [2020]…it feels like a summer movie with the beach scenes. It was just made for that.”
Foster also asked Weinstock on his thoughts about how “Bros” has flopped at the box office, becoming the latest comedy to struggle theatrically as audiences have pivoted more to viewing the genre on streaming rather than see them in theaters. Weinstock says he still believes comedies can have a comeback theatrically, but acknowledges that there’s a higher bar to clear in order to sell them to moviegoers.
“They can’t just be funny. They have to be hilarious,” he said. “They have to be, ‘Stop what you’re doing, hire a babysitter, go out to a theater and see this movie.’ That’s tough to pull off, but when you have a great comedy, it can play forever.”
Watch the full discussion with Marc Weinstock at TheGrill above.
About TheGrill
For over a decade, WrapPRO’s Grill event series has led the conversation on the convergence between entertainment, media and technology, bringing together newsmakers to debate the challenges and opportunities facing content in the digital age. Tailored to a C-suite and innovative, forward thinking attendees, the event delivers a unique series of curated discussions, industry panels and virtual networking activations that explore the ever-changing media landscape. For more information about TheGrill visit thegrill.thewrap.com
TheGrill 2022 sponsors include Loeb & Loeb, City National Bank, Gracenote, Warner Bros. Discovery, Gerber Kawasaki, Sony Pictures, Take-Two Interactive, SAG-AFTRA, New York Festivals, Samba TV and IMAX.
