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Way back in the darkest days of the N95 era, Sony Pictures Entertainment did something drastic.
Each Hollywood studio found a different way to twist in the pandemic wind.
Disney dumpedMulanandSouldirectly onto Disney+ and gotsued by Scarlett Johansson.
Paramount went ahead and launched Paramount+.
It became whatTheWall Street Journalcharacterized as an arms dealer rather than a combatant in the streaming war.
But a funny thing happened just as Sony was being counted out of surviving the industrys mighty inflection point.
It suddenly and dramatically reversed course.
When we first started releasing movies last October, there were really no other big movies.
Everyone had pushed their big movies to this year, to this summer, Greenstein says.
We took a big gamble puttingVenomin theaters.
Then we doubled down withGhostbusters.
Theres so much press aboutTop Gunright now.
Its like,The movie business is back!Panitch says.
These things dont happen overnight.
This summer, Sony continues to zig where other studios zag.
He famously remarked from the stage atCinemaCon in April: We love sequels, and we love superheroes.
But we do not believe the common wisdom that the future isonlysequels and superheroes.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywoodis not a sequel.
Its not a superhero film.
Its not based on a film from 50 years ago.
Its a wholly original piece of content with an incredible director and two movie stars.
WithBullet Train, I think were the only original thriller of the whole summer.
That deal, they emphasize, is a licensing deal.
When youre dealing with licensing versus selling, its actually a major distinction, says Panitch.
Because it really is just a part-time distribution where we get it back in our library.
People are definitely giving them credit, Rushfield says.
Obviously that is a moving target, Greenstein says.
The misconception people in the industry had: A shorter window will add to the value downstream.
The bigger a hit it is theatrically is what adds to its value downstream.
