![]() ![]() All to prop up its under-performing would-be Netflix challenger HBO Max. By opening it next month in both cinemas and on HBO Max the same day, instead of holding it for a traditional release whenever things are back to “normal,” Warner is forgoing hundreds of millions in box office, not to mention subsequent home-entertainment sales. ![]() So why isn’t Crave picking up Wonder Woman 1984 so it can be available at home the same day as in the U.S.? Likely because the film’s simultaneous release is a costly gambit on Warner’s behalf. Canadians were set to see it in theatres this weekend, but Warner recently delayed that plan, likely because, well, there are so few theatres open. The Anne Hathaway-starring remake of The Witches, for example, went straight to HBO Max in October. Since HBO Max’s launch in May, Crave has been picking up most of the American service’s original feature-film content for its Canadian subscribers: Seth Rogen’s An American Pickle, next week’s Melissa McCarthy comedy Superintelligence and Steven Soderbergh’s forthcoming Meryl Streep comedy Let Them All Talk. “Between now and opening day, we will continue our outreach with all levels of government to remind them that the theatrical experience is safe and that there have been zero cases of COVID-19 transmission in any movie theatre, anywhere in the world.”īut for most Canadian audiences, the reality of closed theatres and no immediate home-viewing option means we’re going to be shut out of the biggest movie of the year, all the while watching our neighbours to the south streaming – and talking, and spoiling, and meme-ing – the film to their hearts’ content. “We are excited to bring Wonder Woman 1984 to our circuit across Canada, provided our theatres are permitted by provincial governments to operate,” Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob said Thursday. And it is fantastic news for still-operating theatre-owners, who have had to face both a dearth of enticing product and arbitrary public-health restrictions. ![]() This is good news for the increasingly dwindling number of Canadians who live near still-open cinemas. And Canada’s HBO Max-esque equivalent, Bell Media’s Crave, won’t stream the film until after its “standard theatrical windows,” which is traditionally 90 days. Great news, right? For Canadians, there’s a frustrating catch: HBO Max is unavailable here. But it will also debut simultaneously on HBO Max, Warner’s flailing streaming service. announced that its much-anticipated sequel Wonder Woman 1984, the lone high-profile Hollywood movie to remain on the 2020 release calendar, will indeed open in theatres Dec. ![]() As for the movies on offer? While a good number of high-quality dramas ( Let Him Go, Ammonite, this week’s Sound of Metal) and worthwhile horror flicks ( Come Play, Freaky) have trickled into cinemas, there hasn’t been a real big-budget attention-grabber since Tenet. Theatres are closed in many major markets across the country, and those still operating face business-decimating audience-capacity restrictions. Our theatres were back in business – the country’s largest exhibitor, Cineplex, was the first major theatre chain in the world to reopen 100 per cent of its screens – and we were, for the first time ever, getting big theatrical releases ( Tenet, Unhinged, the SpongeBob Square Pants sequel Sponge On the Run) ahead of the U.S. In the late summer, things were looking up. It is an exceptionally odd time to be a Canadian moviegoer. ![]()
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