The box office may not be back as to where it should be yet but its pretty clear now that bets are being placed on theatrical as the way forward. There was a time when the theatrical window had shortened and its was being said this would be the norm down the line.

But cut 18 months forward and the theatrical window is getting longer as can be seen by the time the major releases are taking to reach SVOD. Disney which is the undisputed number one studio in the world and has seen theatrical releases as soon as they were allowed post Covid is pushing the window longer and longer with each release. AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER saw an SVOD release only after 170 days although its available on PVOD at a prohibitive rate in most countries.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is probably not the best example as its the biggest film out there and if the director had his way it would not be on streaming for years. A better comparison is that DOCTOR STRONG IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS released last May saw an SVOD release 47 days post theatrical release. Now. in 2023 those 47 days have gone to 89 days for ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. It pretty much tells the way Disney is going despite having one of the biggest streaming platforms out there with Disney+.

In our industry there is no PVOD and so, its basically an eight weeks window now to SVOD and this is fine. But within the industry, there is still a belief in streaming with movies pushed that way and stars (mini) ready to work in web series which have and will be disasters in terms of the core Indian audience due to which their equity gets a double hit. One that you are available readily on TV and in episode format and secondly its pretty much crap in terms of the content liked by Indian audiences.

Simply put when a studio like Disney is placing bets on theatrical despite having a huge successful platform, then the message is pretty clear to one and all that theatrical must be sustained. Below are the days that major films have taken to reach SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) and as can be seen the time gets longer and longer.

The release dates are in brackets.

Encanto (24 Nov 21) - 30 Days

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (06 May 22) - 47 Days

Thor: Love And Thunder (08 Jul 22) - 62 Days

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (11 Nov 22) - 82 Days

Avatar: The Way Of Water (16 Dec 22) - 170 Days

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (17 Feb 23) - 89 Days