“Hunger Games” and “Twilight” fans now have the reason to celebrate as Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer revealed that they are not yet done with these franchises. He told the Wall Street that there are still a lot of stories these movies have to tell and they are ready to explore that.
However, he admitted that they can only do this plan if they get a sign off from the book's authors Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Collins. In fact, the 65-year-old executive has a lot of ideas if allowed to pursue this.
A deal with the studios and cinema owners
“There are a lot more stories to be told, and we’re ready to tell them when our creators are ready to tell those stories,” Jon Feltheimer said (via Variety) at the quarterly earnings call.
Aside from continuing the tales of Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, portrayed by Robert Pattinson and Kirsten Stewart, he is also eyeing to release the movies on home entertainment platforms before it hits the theaters. He is planning to negotiate with the studios and theater owners to allow these films to be out on DVD or digitally earlier than its official release date.
Feltheimer said that this will be possible if all the parties are willing to be in a room together for a proper discussion. “I’ve seen enough research to really believe that it’s really something that would be good for everybody,” he explained.
According to Variety, he might have a hard time to do this as this kind of deal is difficult to “pull off.” The studios and exhibitors may have to negotiate individually as they, too, are worried that a wide and open negotiation with a lot of parties involved might result in a conflict of anti-trust laws.
But, he clarified that this will only materialize if the Department of Justice permits them to do so.
The advantages and disadvantages of the plan
Jon Feltheimer’s proposal has a lot of advantages and disadvantages. Movie companies believe that offering films earlier than its release date might help viewers who are not able to go to theaters, but the number of movie goers may decrease.
They are quite assured that this may help to grow their revenues, but the theater owners might feel the difference. Thus, they may be cut in the profit. However, in spite of the incentive, theater owners are worried that they will be “cannibalizing” their own business. It seems like they are allowing their viewers to skip watching inside the cinema to see it first at home, and still wait for a couple weeks before it finally hits the movie houses.
