One of the most talked about movies in recent months has been ‘The Substance’, the eighth horror movie ever to have been nominated for best picture at the Oscars. While it was picked up by MUBI, the global streaming service in most markets, Movie Tracker reveals notable differences in some markets, as buyers quickly clamoured to acquire the title during the Oscar season.
In Australia Stan, the local SVOD owned by Nine Entertainment, acquired the title and aired it in February. Meanwhile both Spain and Italy saw the title acquired by two separate services simultaneously, mirroring the shared Pay-One window phenomenon that has been most prevalent in Australia out of all Movie Tracker markets.
In Spain ‘The Substance’ appeared on both Movistar, the prominent Pay TV operator, premiering at the same time as it did on FilmIn, a local SVOD service that specialises in acquiring indie darling movies alongside premium UK scripted series.
In Italy meanwhile it came to IWONDERFULL, a streaming platform launched by the Italian distribution company I Wonder Pictures in 2020. I Wonder Pictures also handled theatrical distribution for the title in Italy. At the same time as this ‘The Substance’ came to Paramount+, proving that even Studio owned streamers recognise the conversion power of indie hits.
MUBI’s CEO Efe Cakarel credits the acquisition of ‘The Substance’ by the SVOD with raising the awareness of its platform globally, but even so the opportunity remained for these key third-party buyers to bring the title to their own services in their particular markets. As the Oscar Best Picture Nominees had limited overlap with the biggest box office hits (‘Dune: Part Two’ from Warner and ‘Wicked’ from Universal), it shows that the many award-winning movies remain potentially available for many local buyers, which has not been the case for award winning scripted TV for some time.
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