Producer Jason Blum joins Variety's Strictly Business podcast for a double-dose episode that also includes an interview with Disney's Kareem Daniel.
. “So if I have a movie that makes $100 million, the amount of money I’m going to make from all the ancillaries is almost equivalent to a movie that five years ago would have been $200 million.”
The rearrangement of release windows also helps producers by not requiring that studios do separate promotional campaigns for theatrical release and home video anymore. “We have not increased or the studios haven’t increased how much they spend on marketing,” said Prakash, who knows the studio side well from his days at Universal Pictures. “So not only you’re getting that return, you’ve added windows that are earlier, that don’t require extra marketing.
Blum noted that those who focus only on the box office returns are missing the point. “Even though what gets written about is, ‘This movie only did $30 [million], it would have done $60 [million].’ But actually, the movie that just did $30 will ultimately make us more money than the one that did $60 five years ago.”
Blum and Prakash also discuss on the podcast their ambitions to move the streaming business away from the cost-plus model in order to share in the upside on content they produce, as well as Blumhouse’s efforts to match the success it has experienced with films like “The Black Phone” and “Get Out” on the budding TV side of its business.
Daniel, chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, addressed the delicate balance between servicing the company’s linear TV and box office needs with that of its burgeoning streaming assets. “Fundamentally, we’re going to drive streaming growth,” he said. “We have our goals, we are going to hit those goals. But we can also have tremendous success in networks and theatrical.