The field of Best Picture nominated films from the Oscars earlier this year show a drastic variance in windowing strategies amongst studios globally. Movie Tracker reveals the destinations for the top nominees that have had a first pay window already.
Similar to this year’s Golden Globes winners, many of the Oscar Best Picture nominees remain unavailable to third parties, whether through studio SVOD dominance or by theatrical windows having yet to end. Three of the films, Avatar: The Way of Water, Women Talking, and The Fabelmans have only recently completed their theatrical run.
Some movies are likely destined for one single SVOD service worldwide. The Banshees on Inisherin, a Disney production, has been vertically integrated by the studio onto Disney+ in the UK and Canada, and Disney+ Hotstar in India. It has yet to be released elsewhere. All Quiet on the Western Front meanwhile was a Netflix original film, appearing on the SVOD exclusively worldwide.
Three of the films have benefitted from extensive distribution reach because they were released during the summer blockbuster season: Elvis, the Warner Bros. Discovery-produced biopic, largely appeared on its own HBO services. However, the film premiered in its first window on Mediaset Infinity in Italy, proving there are still opportunities for local players.
Top Gun: Maverick, a Paramount production, unsurprisingly premiered on Paramount+ in available markets, with SkyShowtime (itself part-owned by Paramount) also taking the movie in Netherlands and Poland. However, it appeared on Amazon Prime in India and Spain, HBO GO in Pan-regional Asia, and Showmax in South Africa. And while it still premiered in Paramount+ in the US, it also had a co-exclusive window with MGM+ (formerly Epix), reiterating the increasing trend of distributors utilising non-exclusive windows identified with Show Tracker.
For the winner, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Amazon Prime played it big and secured first pay windows in eight markets including Brazil, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Amazon has a history with the movie’s studio A24, acquiring its other critical hit The Green Knight previously in multiple key markets. In Australia, we see another co-exclusive window, this time between Amazon Prime and Foxtel. This film perhaps represents the strongest opportunity for local players, as Wavve secured the rights in South Korea, Movistar+ in Spain, Viaplay in Sweden, and Showtime in the US.
The two remaining films are recent theatrical releases, so their first pay windows are still undetermined in most markets. The psychological drama TÁR saw its first window in the US go to Peacock Premium, a predictable path given it’s an NBCUniversal production. The Neon-produced Triangle of Sadness appeared in the US on Hulu due to Neon’s exclusive partnership with the streaming giant. Elsewhere, it only appeared on Amazon Prime in the UK and Latin America, but will likely see additional distribution as its theatrical window wanes in certain markets.
While many of these films are being vertically integrated, there are still opportunities to obtain a first pay window for big name films, whether that may be with a co-exclusive window or in markets where studios do not have an SVOD presence. With studios such as A24 and Neon, pivotally without their own D2C services, producing their own Oscar winners, local services may wish to look to these distributors rather than the traditional Hollywood studios.
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