Economic Newsletter

SINGAPORE

The Shaw Organisation is pulling out all the stops for French cinema during this fall/winter season. Drawing support from the French Film Festival organized by the Ambassade de France to launch its strongest titles, the exhibitor and distributor with the famous logo is theatrically releasing no less than 9 French titles in the 8 weeks between November and the beginning of 2020. They are in order of release: The Shiny Shrimps (November 14), Made in China (November 21), La Belle Époque (November 28), The Specials (5 December), Love at Second Sight (December 12), White As Snow (December 19), Perfect Nanny (December 19), Someone, Somewhere (December 26), and An Easy Girl (January 2). Apart from the company's own theaters, some of these titles will also be exhibited by The Projector. We note that for some highly awaited titles, such as La Belle Époque and The Specials, the city where the largest French community resides in Asia hosts releases only a few weeks on from those on home turf.

SOUTH KOREA

CGV Arthouse announces the shuttering of its distribution and investment activities after the weak local box office results of titles such as Burning by Lee Chang Dong. Nevertheless, exhibition activities in the twenty theaters featuring arthouse fare within the CGV network will continue. It will even expand, with the conversion of CGV Myeongdong Station in Seoul into a 100% CGV Arthouse complex because its five screens will now be dedicated to independant and international cinema. Without forgetting a theater reconverted into a library offering works dedicated to cinema from around the world.

JAPAN

On 22 November, the distribution and exhibition arm of Parco, the Japanese retail giant, launched a new kind of mini movie theater in the heart of Shibuya within a new shopping mall. Named White Cine Quinto and endowed with a 108-seat theater, this screen complements the Cine Quinto that Parco has been operating since the summer of 2018 on the former Paradiso site, also in Shibuya.

BOX OFFICE

After several relatively sluggish months for foreign films at the box office, there is a reason to celebrate: two subtitled films are doing very well. Pain and Glory (Sony Classics) has registered $3.35 million, but it is above all Parasite (Neon) which has encountered unprecedented success, with $16.5 million, reaching a far wider audience than the traditional one that turns out for foreign fare. In terms of French films, By the Grace of God received exceptional reviews (95% on Rotten Tomatoes), unfortunately not reflected in the moviegoers it attracted ($55,000 in box office revenues). As for Edmond, released by Roadside Attractions, it received lukewarm reviews and to date has tallied only $51,000 at the box office.

FRENCH FILMS RELEASING

Portrait of a Lady on Fire  by Céline Sciamma (Neon/Hulu) – December 6 (New York only) + 14 February 2020

Les Misérables by Ladj Ly (Amazon Studios) – 10 January 10, 2020

Zombi Child by Bertrand Bonnello (Film Movement) – January 24, 2020

NETFLIX

Netflix has taken over the lease of the Paris Theatre in New York. This single-screen arthouse theater had closed its doors in the summer of 2019 due to increased rent. Netflix will use it to screen its own films, beginning with Marriage Story by Noah Baumbach, which has been out for two weeks. Parallel to this, Netflix continues to give a 2-to-4 week theatrical window to its most prestitigious titles, such asThe Irishman, by arranging deals with independent theater operators (the AMC and Regal chains continue to refuse Netflix films). 

Read the article

For the first time, Netflix has revealed its viewership figures: Bird Box (starring Sandra Bullock) and the comedy Murder Mystery (starring Dany Boon!) are the two big winners, with respectively 80 and 73 million plays. In terms of series, Stranger Things far outstrips all the others.

Read the article

STUDIOS

November was marked by the end of what is known in Hollywood as the Paramount Consent Decrees, which have existed since the 1940s: all the major American studios will now be able to again run movie theaters in the United States, something that was prohibited to most of them until now. Confronted by recent market shifts and, in particular, by the arrival of streaming giants, the Department of Justice's Makan Delrahim, who leads the department's antitrust division, has decided to review the regulations. 

Read the article

The aim of this trip was to accompany the launch of Tapis Rouge, Frans Filmfestival, the first French film festival in the Netherlands, and to take stock with Dutch distributors of French films.

Downloadable report below.

Netflix

A period of tranquility comes to an end for Netflix: Read the article

And what if traditional television was still Netfix's main competitor? Read the article

Disney +

Behind the scenes in the lead-up to the launch of Disney +: Read the article

The launch of Disney + in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Porto Rico against a backdrop of hacked user accounts: Read the article

Disney + secures 10 million subscribers on its first day: Read the article

Western Europe will have to wait until late March 2020 for Disney + to launch: Read the article

HBO Max

HBO is set to launch its global subscription VOD service HBO Max in May 2020: Read the article

Dozens of millions of subscribers predicted for HBO Max in the medium term? Read the article

Apple TV+

Apple proposes an Apple TV and Apple Music bundle for less than $5 per month: Read the article

Twitch

Is the platform specialized in video game streaming set to become a future player in VOD? Read the article

Starzplay

Starzplay launches as a standalone service in Western Europe, Brazil, and Mexico: Read the article

Content fragmentation, the hidden face of the diversity of streaming services?

An OVUM report confirms that, despite launches of new streaming services, FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) will continue to dominate the VOD market: Read the article

The Washington Post offers a guide to the main streaming services in the United States: Read the article

How does this affect users?

What price will users pay and for what content? Read the article

Is piracy the big winner of content fragmentation? Read the article

Specialization, a successful strategy?

The launch of Discover.film, a new global platform specializing in short films: Read the article

AVOD platform Tubi will launch in the United Kingdom, and will also launch Tubi Kids: Read the article

Flix Latino develops a new section aimed at young audiences: Read the article (in Spanish)

Local content, a cultural differentiation tool?

Scandinavian platforms vs. Netflix: Read the article

In Italy, public broadcaster RAI relaunches its OTT platform: Read the article

Multiplication of content, multiplication of models

AVOD, a genuine alternative to SVOD? Read the article

NBC envisages AVOD for its future Peacock streaming platform Peacock: Read the article

In Russia, the development of AVOD contributes to a reduction in video piracy: Read the article

ASIA

The WeTV platform of Tencent Video, the Chinese video streaming giant, expands into Malaysia: Read the article

Netflix launches mobile-only monthly plan in Malaysia: Read the article

LATIN AMERICA

1.2 million active users for Movistar Play in the first six months in Latin America: Read the article (in Spanish)

Blim TV relaunches in Latin America: Read the article

NORTH AMERICA

Movie exhibition company AMC launches its VOD platform AMCTheatres.com: Read the article

EUROPE

30 million users for the British ITV HUB platform: Read the article

German streaming service Joyn launches a subscription service at €6.99 per month: Read the article

In Poland, Cyfrowy Polsat and Discovery Communications join forces to launch an OTT platform: Read the article

AFRICA, THE MIDDLE AND NEAR EAST

Weyvak launches its SVOD platform: Read the article

Demand Africa streaming service engages new content creators for African productions: Read the article (in French)

Platforms explored: BFI Player, Claro Video, Filmin, Globoplay, Huawei Video, Hulu, iTunes Brazil, Ivi, MegafonTV, Megogo, MUBI Brazil, Okko, Pluto TV, Sofa Digital, SP Cine Play, TVP VOD, Yandex/Kinopoisk, Watcha.

BrLab 2019

MYFFF and meetings with Brazilian platforms: downloadable report below.

Mipcom 2019

Meetings with foreign platforms at TVFI's stand: downloadable report below.

AFM 2019

Meetings with foreign platforms at Loews Hotel: downloadable report below.