Kevin Maimann writes on CBC that Canada’s indie movie theatres say industry is in crisis.

He begins by stating: “Canada’s independent cinema industry is in crisis, its owners say, as they face mounting challenges from streaming services and restrictive Hollywood studio rules.”

It turns out that “rules imposed by major studios like Disney determine when and for how long they are able to screen certain big-ticket films.”

These are called “‘clean runs,’ when studios require an independent theatre to dedicate a screen to just one film for up to four weeks, even if the film stops drawing crowds after the first week. This can be especially frustrating for small-town theatres that only have one screen.”

And they can’t rent their theatre out during that time.

“They said if your door’s open, you’re showing our product.“

Another studio constraint is “zone provisions, which keep exhibitors from playing films that are screening at bigger nearby theatres.

By the time they’re allowed to screen some films, they could be streaming.

See the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors report.

My take: could the studios and their distributors be actively trying to kill off independent cinemas? I doubt it. But small town cinemas are so much more than just Hollywood outposts; they are often the only local in-person cultural and artistic hub available to citizens.

Joe Hernandez reports on NPR: Here’s why some finished films are mothballed.

He begins, “Back in November [2023,] Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was not planning to release “Coyote vs. Acme,” a hybrid animated and live-action comedy starring John Cena and Will Forte that had wrapped filming a year earlier.”

And then adds that the studio shelved both “Batgirl” and “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt” in 2022.

He explores the reasons behind spending $70M, $90M and $40M and then shelving movies rather than releasing them to the public:

• Money: “Hollywood financial experts say that when studios scrap finished projects the decision usually comes down to money.”
• New Directions: “Abandoning a project may also reflect the shifting priorities of a studio.”

He concludes, “Though it may make financial sense for a studio to abandon a film, that argument may prove little comfort to the movie’s cast and crew or the fans eagerly awaiting its release.”

My take: Here’s his description of the cancelled movie: “Based on a satirical New Yorker piece, the movie followed Wile E. Coyote as he sued the Acme company after its products again and again fail to help him catch the elusive Road Runner.” That sounds hilarious! I’d watch that. And it seems cruel to green light a movie, get folks to spend years of time and effort working on it and then pull the rug out from under everything. Beep! Beep!

Jason Hellerman reports on No Film School that Netflix Releases All Its Streaming Data for the First Time Ever.

He points out that this is a huge story because the “notoriously secretive Netflix has published all its streaming numbers for the public to see” for the first time.

Netflix will publish the What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report twice a year.

The report has four columns:

1. Title, both original and licensed
2. Whether the title was available globally
3. The premiere date for any Netflix TV series or film
4. Hours viewed

Some takeaways:

• This six month timeframe aggregates 100 billion hours viewed.
• Over 60% of the titles appeared on Netflix’s weekly Top 10 lists.
• 30% of all viewing was for non-English content, mainly Korean and Spanish.

Here’s the Netflix media release.

Here’s their six-month 18,000+ row spreadsheet.

My take: the industry has always wanted more transparency from Netflix and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this report comes on the heels on the writer and actor strikes. I would love to see someone take this information and cross-reference it with genres, formats and actors. Will other streamers follow with their data?