Want a movie to click with streaming audiences? The key may be to leave it running in theaters. Ringing up some box office along the way doesn’t hurt, either.
Direct-to-streaming and day-and-date strategies, pragmatic moves during the pandemic when theaters were either closed or shunned by wary audiences, are fading in popularity as Wall Street and Hollywood run the numbers. Even limited releases — the token placement of a movie in theaters to satisfy talent or qualify for awards — may not be enough to get the benefit of exposure in theaters, executives at a range of companies told investors in recent days.