The Big Picture · Discussion · Hall of Fame

Are Movie Theaters Screwed?

August 4, 2020/ 57 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins

Sean and Amanda on the AMC-Universal deal that cut the theatrical window to 17 days and a theater business that was already breaking, then Bradley Cooper joining PTA's next film, a scaled-back fall festival season, and Seth Rogen in An American Pickle.

44 films across 5 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Are movie theaters screwed?the AMC-Universal deal and a business that was already breaking

Trolls World Tour 2020

The PVOD experiment that started the fight: Universal put it out to premium rental in April with theaters shut and bragged about the numbers, which set off Adam Aron at AMC.

Dolittle 2020

On the run-through of Universal's 2020 releases. Sean's word for it: preposterous.

The Turning 2020

A little-seen Universal horror release from January.

The Photograph 2020

Another Universal 2020 title they'd covered on the show.

The Invisible Man 2020

Universal's one real 2020 hit. Amanda points out its late run overlapped the first lockdown, which muddies the box-office read.

The Hunt 2020

On the Universal 2020 slate.

The King of Staten Island 2020

The Judd Apatow/Pete Davidson film, and the one Universal title Sean thinks might have earned a run past 17 days.

You Should Have Left 2020

The Kevin Bacon horror movie on Universal's slate.

F9 2021

The tentpole counterexample: makes more in theaters than at home, so it isn't going to PVOD after two and a half weeks.

Candyman 2021

Nia DaCosta's remake of the 1992 film, produced by Jordan Peele, then dated for October 16 to land near Halloween.

The One and Only Ivan 2020

The Disney+ gorilla movie with Bryan Cranston. Sean's example of a kids' film with no real difference between the theater and the couch.

Tenet 2020

The Nolan release everyone's watching as the test of whether a movie can open into a reduced theater count.

The Croods: A New Age 2020

Croods 2, which Universal kept on the calendar: a known kids property with a built-in audience, basically Trolls World Tour.

The Croods 2013

The original, then on Netflix. Roger Deakins gave it visual-consultant help, a fact Amanda got mocked for citing on the Deakins episode.

News of the World 2020

The Tom Hanks/Paul Greengrass awards title Universal moved off 2020.

Minions: The Rise of Gru 2022

Delayed to 2021 (it finally landed in 2022) to hold out for a full theatrical release. Universal clearly values Despicable Me more than Croods.

Rebecca 2020

Ben Wheatley's remake of the Hitchcock film with Armie Hammer, Lily James, and Kristin Scott Thomas. Sean's new most-anticipated, now expected at home.

Bradley Cooper, PTA, and Bernsteinthe week's casting news: Cooper joins Paul Thomas Anderson's untitled 1970s Valley film, then directs a Leonard Bernstein biopic

A Star Is Born 2018

Cooper's directorial debut and the prestige swing they both defended. The move that keeps pushing him up the movie-star hierarchy.

The Hangover 2009

The movie that made Cooper famous and the thing he's spent a decade trying to graduate from, studying Eastwood and Pacino to do it.

A scaled-back fall festival seasonTelluride, New York, and Toronto, all smaller this year

Uncut Gems 2019

One of last year's stacked Telluride world premieres, cited to show how much slighter the 2020 slate looks.

Ford v Ferrari 2019

Another 2019 Telluride world premiere in the comparison.

Judy 2019

Part of last year's Telluride lineup.

First Cow 2019

A 2019 Telluride premiere.

Marriage Story 2019

Its Telluride North American premiere rounded out a full 2019 slate.

Ammonite 2020

Francis Lee's Kate Winslet/Saoirse Ronan drama, on both the Telluride and TIFF lists. Neon has it, and Sean's not sure whether it goes to a window or straight home.

The Father 2020

Florian Zeller's dementia drama with Anthony Hopkins, which Sean saw at Sundance and expects to see nominated.

Nomadland 2020

Chloé Zhao's Frances McDormand film, getting a Telluride drive-in premiere on September 11 despite the festival being canceled.

The French Dispatch 2021

Wes Anderson's film, pulled off the calendar entirely. The kind of title whose absence shrinks the whole season.

Mank 2020

Netflix's Fincher film, the sort of movie a studio holds back for the biggest possible platform.

The Irishman 2019

Last year's New York Film Festival opener, set against this year opening on a TV episode.

Widows 2018

Steve McQueen's last feature, which Amanda insists was under-discussed.

Concrete Cowboy 2020

Among the TIFF titles announced.

Palm Springs 2020

A Sundance movie Sean missed even after 25-plus films there.

Kajillionaire 2020

Miranda July's new film, another Sundance title now heading to VOD in September.

She Dies Tomorrow 2020

Amy Seimetz's film, well-timed to the apocalyptic mood, and to next week's top-five episode.

Rest in peace, Wilford Brimley

Cocoon 1985

An actor who looked 65 for 40 straight years and never once seemed out of place.

The Thing 1982

Always made the movie he was in better.

The Firm 1993

The heartache line to Mitch McDeere, kept alive by Chris Ryan's impression on The Rewatchables.

An American PickleSeth Rogen times two, on HBO Max

An American Pickle 2020

Rogen plays a man brined for 100 years and his great-grandson. Charming and sentimental, with a hard-left third-act turn into Trump-era social media that Amanda didn't see coming but liked. Based on Simon Rich's 2013 story 'Sellout.'