I'm still scratching my head over this move. To me, this is premature at best, other than perhaps announcing this for films to be released in that first quarter of 2021. But to go this far out ahead of uncertainty seems a bit strange and self-inflictive in a sense.
Wouldn't it make sense to release it 31 days AFTER its released in theaters and VOD/PPV concurrently (typically I see "premiere" releases with a $20 pricetag)? Even if a theater is wide open and the covid numbers on said state are low enough to warrant a full opening, I'd venture to bet most still won't do it if they have that option if HBOMAX is just willing to give it to everyone with no strings attached. This point is really sticking it to the theaters who are just hanging by a thread to continue operating in the future. This is a huge blow to the theater industry any way you slice it.
I'm shocked that they aren't at least also offering a secondary tiered plan or in the least, a small additional fee to watch those on HBOMAX but I guess I shouldn't complain too much, but I just really miss and want to get back to the theater experience. On a side note, films like WW84 and Godzilla vs Kong likely will have the 3D aspect of those films trashed now if theaters will barely release these in the first place.
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