Blog: cinema

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

BarbenHeimer needs to usher in media fusion to fully revitalise cinema

Tim Mulligan

13 Mar 2024

BarbenHeimer

oppenheimer

Barbie

In many ways the 96th Academy Awards was positioned as the critical confirmation of last year’s double blockbuster performances of Oppenheimer and Barbie . Collectively, these titles generated $2.4 billion at the box office in 2023 and were heralded as announcing the return of cinema to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist.

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The engagement dilemma means that film has to embrace the future

Tim Mulligan

6 Dec 2022

cinema

Movies

hybrid entertainment

Hollywood is in flux right now, with producers such as Jason Blum taking to social media andexpressing their frustrations: “Gotta get out to those movie theatres folks. We don’t want to be streamed to death!” Agents representing film talent (both acting and production) are busy lobbying the leading direct-to-consumer (D2C) services to prioritise theatrical releases over straight-to-streaming releases for significant productions.

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Why film has the creative full stop advantage

Tim Mulligan

27 Jul 2022

Film

Movies

Hollywood

As the summer holidays begin, and Netflix starts feverishly planning for its strategic pivot into advertising, the impact of the unfolding attention recession will start being felt in video streaming. Across the northern hemisphere, record temperatures and the appeal of in real life (IRL) alternatives to staring at screens are now at their most appealing.

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Minions versus Lightyear: a tale of two contrasting fandoms

Ashleigh Millar

12 Jul 2022

SVOD

cinema

Disney

The new Universal / Illumination film, Minions: The Rise of Gru , has broken records for an Independence Day release to theatres – it grossed $123.1 million over the long weekend, beating the previous record-holder, Transformers: Dark of the Moon , which grossed $115.

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The live versus streaming demographic paradox

Hanna Kahlert

5 Jan 2021

Artists

demographic

insight

As we begin 2021 with a vaccine on the near horizon, live venue businesses are holding on with whitening knuckles through the intermediate stricter lockdowns. However, the world has changed much in the year since the first social distancing measures were put in place – and navigating the future will look nothing like a return to the past.

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Blockbuster disruption comes to the streaming wars courtesy of HBO Max

Tim Mulligan

8 Dec 2020

SVOD

HBO Max

Warner Media

An unprecedented year for the entertainment industry has now taken yet another decisive turn. Last Thursday Warner Media’s CEO Jason Kilar announced that all Warner Bros’ 2021 releases will be available to stream exclusively on its direct-to-consumer (D2C) service HBO Max on the same day they have their box office premiers.

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From blockbuster-breaker to niche premium experience – cinema gets a makeover

Hanna Kahlert

12 Oct 2020

cinema

Video

Cultural trends

Lockdown has been catastrophic for live entertainment, forcing the closure of venues from movie theatres to concert halls to local music stages. This has forced creators and venues alike to adapt their strategies to the new normal, finding any way to access and engage with the audiences they rely on.

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