Warner Bros. MICKKEY 17 sacrifice: Robert Pattinson will die in VOD

Have we entered the era of replaceable films?

Three short weeks. This is the operating time from which Mickey 17the last Bong John-Ho. 5 years Parasitethe return of the Korean filmmaker was supposed to be an event. But, despite rather positive criticisms and the presence of Robert Pattinson At the top of the bill, the public did not respond to this blockbuster at $ 118 million.

After his second operating weekend, Mickey 17 only brought up $ 90 million worldwide, including 33 million in North America. Knowing that it is necessary to add to the film’s budget $ 80 million invested in marketing, its profitability threshold is estimated between 340 and $ 400 million. We are therefore far from the account.

As he already did a few months ago to Joker 2Warner Bros. was quick to react and precipitate the exit Vod from the film. He will disembark on video on demand from March 25 in the United States, 18 days after his cinema release. It’s even faster than Two madnesswho had benefited from a 25 -day window.

This strategy may seem cruel, even incomprehensible. It responds to an economic pragmatism which is hardly concerned with the cult of cinema experience. Given the latest figures ($ 7.5 million this weekend), Warner Bros. prefers to sit on the few million that Mickey 17 Could still relate to the box office, and immediately bet on the recipes of video on demand without having to relaunch a new promo in a few weeks.

The calculation can be interesting for Warner. In premium VOD, a film is rented at 20 dollars, compared to 12 dollars on average for a cinema. And the share of income in front is 80% for a studio, compared to 50% on a ticket in the United States. Last January, Wicked Thus generated $ 70 million in its first week of VOD operations. But the universal film overrated on a big in -room success …

The signal is nonetheless disturbing while Hollywood is experiencing a very complicated 2025 on the side of blockbusters. If the big studios thus sacrifice their productions, like the character of Mickey in the film of Bong Joon-Ho, as soon as they miss their start, it is the whole ecosystem of cinema which risks being weakened. Spectators have already assimilated this new deal, and know that they often have only a few weeks to wait to see a film quietly on their sofa.

In France, the chronology of the media prohibits such a practice. Mickey 17 will not be available in VOD only four months after its release, precisely on July 3.