What a strange strange week. We seem to be caught up in witnessing a cinematic game of chicken where the two largest studios are intent on showing a Studio/Media Conglomerate who is boss. It is a dangerous game that is being played out. No matter what happens this is going to change movie going. On top of that the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences this week announced that because of the pandemic they were this year going to treat streaming titles as if they had theatrical distribution.

I for one totally understand the anger being expressed by both AMC and Regal. These studios or whatever they are now are built primarily on the backs of theatrical exhibition. The business of theatrical exhibition is suffering greatly by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. In one of the most ungracious acts in American business, Comcast through its surrogate, decided to roll out something it had long been planning. It released its animated film Trolls 2: World Tour directly into homes as a streaming product, and in the process gutting theaters. What is telling as to the intent of Comcast is that there are some drive-ins open. I would have done a small drive-in release in the spirit of goodwill and in respect to the historical tradition; they decided not to. Comcast, through its surrogate Universal, has also sneakily done the same for The Hunt, Invisible Man, and Emma.

Studios stare hungrily at a VOD market where they can take 80% of the revenue without a giant expansion of marketing dollars. They are racing pell-mell into a VOD future and in the process sloppily eradicating a 110-year-old industry. These groups of companies are driving solely by a blind form of undisciplined self-interest. The government long ago should have stopped the march of these juggernauts in their tracks. A succession of crack lobbyists in collusion with the MPAA has systematically eroded bodies of laws that would have at one time leveled the playing field. Laws like fair and accurate reporting, eliminated during Reagan; FinSyn laws dismantled under Clinton; net neutrality under Trump; the list goes on.

In the meantime, the art form that defined America and defined America to the world has been taken apart by these bureaucratic termites. In April, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell crowed “The results for Trolls World Tour have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD. At $19.99 for two days’ worth of access, the movie has grossed around $100 million, breaking records in the process.” So in the middle of a pandemic when millions of Americans are confined to their homes, where their kids who most likely are bouncing off the walls, a chance to give themselves a 2-hour respite while their tikes were parked in front of the TV watching a parade of Day-Glo smurfs, is no indication that PVOD works. Sorry Jeff, if you are making these pronouncements while the deck is so heavily stacked in favor of the results you want, it is obvious what your agenda is.

For years primarily during Cinemacon, studios proclaimed loudly, “that they were partners in exhibition”……ya sure.

This is beginning to look like a very nasty divorce, prolonged and painful. AMC responded to Comcast in an explosive press release: “Effectively immediately AMC will no longer play any Universal movies in any of our theatres in the United States, Europe, or the Middle East.

This policy affects any and all Universal movies per se, goes into effect today, and as our theatres reopen, and is not some hollow or ill-considered threat. Incidentally, this policy is not aimed solely at Universal out of pique or to be punitive in any way, it also extends to any movie maker who unilaterally abandons current windowing practices absent good faith negotiations between us, so that they as a distributor and we as exhibitor both benefit and neither are hurt from such changes.”

Regal joined the fray the very next day.

The problem is that although the circuit’s anger is warranted, it seems to be a reaction of fear instead of a proactive one. The studios have learned that they can eventually make as much money outside of the theaters, with far less work. Let’s face it the studios are a pretty lazy bunch…they have wanted it fast and easy ever since DVD and broadband came on the scene.

I suspect that the action taken against Comcast has more to do with firing a shot across the bow of the other studios as advancing direct change of outlook with Universal/Comcast. They did not threaten Disney for releasing Artemis Fowl on Disney Plus or scold Warners for rolling out Scoob! on VOD. Let’s face it, in the case of Comcast…they are a cable company and all they really know is cable and getting valuations based on their subscriber base. There is also the simple fact that the feature-length movies as seems to be losing its cachet in favor of binge-able watchable series.

Now Jeff Shell realizes that the theaters, although diminished, are still a factor. During an earnings call for Comcast, he stated in a blatant attempt to kiss a little theatrical heinie, “There’s no question that theatrical will someday be a central element to our business and film business — it’s how people make their movies and how they expect their movies to be seen.” Geesh.

There is no doubt that the business of exhibition is going to be diminished. This is a time of deep change, a time when the business must be re-invented. The theaters are going to have to start exercising control over the product that is put on its screens. It is imperative that the industry as a whole makes pacts with strategic streaming outlets to maintain the sanctity of the windows. It is necessary to work with independent producers to provide them with screen access and to create distribution entities to support this. It is imperative that collectively, the theaters become masters of their own destiny.

When the movies began, Edison started producing short features in a small studio which they nicknamed “Black Maria”, he later understood that in order to control this business he had to control distribution. After the studios came into being they soon learned that in order to sustain themselves they had to control the theaters. It is now time that we take a lesson from history and take control of the distribution chain for movie products so we can rebuild our own marketplace. If we count on the studios we are doomed.