By Ben Fritz And Erich Schwartzel
February's flop "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" doesn't seem like a
candidate to revolutionize the movie business. But given its
time-travel premise, perhaps it makes sense as a pioneer for
shifting release dates.
The comedy became available to buy online from digital
distributors such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes and Google Inc.'s Play for
$15 on April 7, just 46 days after it was released in theaters. At
the insistence of exhibition chains like Regal Entertainment Group,
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and Cinemark Holdings Inc., major
studios typically don't release movies for home viewing until about
90 days after they premiere in theaters.
The cinema chains believe earlier home availability will
encourage consumers to skip paying to watch movies on the big
screen. Big chains as a matter of policy refuse to play movies that
they know will be available to download or on DVD sooner than 90
days.
Many in Hollywood believe films should be available to watch at
home as soon as they finish their theatrical run, so that there
isn't a period of time when a movie is unavailable to watch by any
legal means.
The 46-day "window," as people in the movie industry call the
span between theatrical and home debuts, of "Hot Tub Time Machine
2" appears to be the earliest for any nationwide release by a major
Hollywood studio in recent years.
The National Association of Theatre Owners, or NATO, a trade
group for exhibitors, sent an email alert to its members on April 6
alerting them of the extraordinarily early home release of "Hot Tub
Time Machine 2."
"As is our practice, NATO informs our members of any theatrical
release window shorter than 90 days," the brief note said.
Executives at many studios will likely be eager to see whether
the early digital release of a box-office dud like "Hot Tub Time
Machine 2" can help stem financial losses by making the movie
available closer to the date when the theatrical marketing campaign
maximized public awareness.
As of Friday, it was No. 8 on iTunes' best-seller charts and No.
25 on Google Play.
Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures released the film in theaters
on Feb. 20, but it quickly disappeared from movie screens. After
playing nationwide at about 2,900 locations for two weeks, its
footprint was scaled back to 900, and then to only about 100 by
weeks four and five, according to the box-office tracking firm
Rentrak Corp. Ultimately it grossed only $12.3 million in theaters,
a disappointing outcome compared with $50 million for the original
in 2010.
Theaters cannot blame Paramount for the early digital release.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., which co-financed "Hot Tub," controls
digital rights to the movie and set the date when it became
available to buy online, as well as the coming April 17
video-on-demand rental date.
A Paramount representative said the studio won't release the
movie on DVD until at least 90 days after the theatrical release. A
spokeswoman for MGM wouldn't comment.
The two companies share revenue from all sources, including
digital, according to a person familiar with their deal on the
movie.
As a result of the split rights, it's unclear how theaters can
respond to the breach of protocol. Although MGM co-finances several
movies a year, including the coming Reese Witherspoon comedy "Hot
Pursuit" and the James Bond series, it doesn't handle theatrical
distribution itself.
Representatives for AMC, Cinemark and NATO declined to comment.
A Regal spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment.
It has become common for low-budget independent movies to
premiere simultaneously in theaters and at home, but major theater
chains like Regal and Cinemark typically don't play such films.
In 2011, the major chains and NATO strongly opposed an
experiment by major studios to rent movies for $30 through DirecTV
60 days after the films premiered in theaters. The studios never
repeated the experiment.
Last December, when Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Entertainment
announced it was pursuing a simultaneous digital release of "The
Interview" after a weekslong cyberattack on the studio, the top
three exhibitors refused to play the film.
Write to Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com and Erich Schwartzel at
erich.schwartzel@wsj.com
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