You couldn't take it home to watch it on your VCR until October 29th, 1996, 11 months after it opened.

直到 1996 年 10 月 29 日，在上映 11 個月後，你才可以把它帶回家用錄影機觀看。

This is called the "theatrical window", when a movie is shown only in theaters, and it's gotten way smaller over time.

這就是所謂的「窗口期」，指的是當一部電影只在影院放映，而隨著時間的推移，窗口期變得越來越短。

"Toy Story 4" was released in June of 2019.

《玩具總動員 4》於 2019 年 6 月上映。

To watch it at home, you only had to wait about 3 months.

要在家裡觀看，你只需等待大約 3 個月。

This shrinking window is the result of a decades-long fight between movie theaters and movie studios.

這種縮短的窗口期是幾十年來電影院和電影製片廠之間的角力結果。

But how much smaller can the window get?

但是，窗口期能有多短呢？

Are movie theaters close to becoming a thing of the past?

電影院快要變成過去了嗎？

Thanks to a Supreme Court case from the 1940s, movie studios and theater owners in the US are separate entities.

多虧最高法院在 1940 年代的一個案例，美國的電影製片廠和影院業主間是兩個分別獨立的個體。

For a while, the only way to see a movie was to go to a theater.

有一段時間，看電影的唯一途徑是去影院。

But, pretty soon...

但很快……

- Televison. - VHS. - DVD.

- 電視。 - 錄像帶。 - 光碟。

The days of theaters being the only way to watch a movie are long gone.

影院是看電影唯一途徑的時代早已過去。

To defend against those new competitors, theater owners have struck deals with the movie studios to give them a window of exclusivity before a movie could be seen in any other format.

為了抵禦那些新的競爭對手，影院老闆已經與電影公司達成了協議，提供影院一個在以任何管道看電影前，只能在電影院看到電影的獨家放映期。

Movie studios agreed because it worked for them, too.

電影公司同意，因為這對他們來說也有好處。

We created these windows because they were really good for the motion picture business.

我們創造這些窗口期是因為他們真的對電影業有好處。

That's Mark Zoradi, a former Disney executive.

這位是 Mark Zoradi，一位前迪士尼高管。

From 1980 until 2010...

從 1980 年到 2010 年這段期間……

But, today, he's...

但今天，他是……

... the CEO of Cinemark Theaters.

……擔任 Cinemark 影院的 CEO。

The third-largest theater chain in the US and Canada.

它是美國和加拿大境內的第三大連鎖影院。

Theater owners generally want a longer exclusive window because they only make money while a film is in theaters.

因為影院只在電影上映時賺錢，所以影院業主一般都希望有一個較長的專屬窗口期。

And even then, they're splitting ticket profits, roughly 50-50.

即使如此，他們也要平分大約一半的電影票利潤。

But movie studios have the opportunity to keep making money long after a film is shown in theaters.

但電影公司在電影上映後的很長一段時間內還有機會繼續賺錢。

In fact, it's become essential for studios to recoup their investments on expensive films.

事實上，對於電影公司來說，收回對昂貴電影的投資已經變得至關重要。

In order for you to break even, then you've got to go right down the line at multiple bites in order to... to make that all back.

為了讓你達到收支平衡，你就得順藤摸瓜，多管齊下，來收回投資出去的錢。

In the beginning, the minimum theatrical window was quite long.

一開始，影院的最小窗口期是相當長的。

But, obviously...

但顯然……

Over time, that's... that's shrunk.

隨著時間的推移，這已經縮小了。

With the introduction of DVDs, you had a window at roughly six months.

隨著光碟的推出，有大概 6 個月的窗口期。

The window, prior to the pandemic, was essentially 74 days before a movie would go to electronic sell-through.

在新冠疫情前，這個窗口期基本上是 74 天後，一部電影才會進入電子銷售階段。

That means digital release you can buy on a platform like iTunes.

這意味著你可以在 iTunes 這樣的平臺上購買數位版本。

And then at 90 days, they would take it to DVD, VOD, and then after that, they would take it to pay television or streaming.

然後在 90 天后，便到光碟、視頻點播的銷售，然後在那之後，就是付費電視或串流媒體。

That's kind of how the sequence is.

順序是這樣的。

But studios haven't always gotten their way.

但電影公司並不總是能照他們的方式來。

In 2010, Warner Bros.'s parent company proposed a window of 30 days, which theater owners didn't agree to.

2010 年，華納兄弟的母公司提出了一個 30 天的窗口期，但影院業主沒有同意。

Netflix challenged the window a few years later, planning a movie release in IMAX and on Netflix at the same time.

幾年後，Netflix 挑戰了這個窗口期，計劃在 IMAX 和 Netflix 上同時發佈一部電影。

Major theater chains banned their films.

主要的連鎖影院禁止了他們的電影。

One studio has been really persistent, though.

但有一家工作室一直非常堅持。

Universal has been, probably, the most public and aggressive about wanting to shorten the theatrical window.

環球影業可能是在想要縮短窗口期這件事上，最公開積極的。

In 2011, Universal made plans to release the film "Tower Heist" on demand 30 days after it hit theaters.

2011 年，環球影業計劃在電影《神偷軍團》上映 30 天後，以點播的方式發行。

Some chains threatened to not show the film at all.

一些連鎖影業以不放映這部電影來威脅。

Universal ultimately backed down and kept their window at 90 days.

環球影業最終退縮了，將其窗口期保持在 90 天。

Ultimately, theaters need studios because they need movies to show.

歸根結底，影院需要電影公司，因為他們需要電影來放映。

Studios need theaters to make big money and get big press.

電影公司需要影院來賺大錢，獲得更多的媒體關注。

And that mutual need kept things stable.

而那樣的相互關係讓這之中的事情能夠保持穩定。

For a while.

一段時間。

Until...

直到……

- Theaters are shut down due to the global pandemic... - Movie theaters were forced to close their...

- 由於新冠疫情…… - 電影院被迫關……

- ... doors... - They've been trying to survive the coronavirus pandemic...

- ……關門。 - 他們一直試圖在疫情下生存……

- ... in bankruptcy. - Bankruptcy could be in AMC's future.

- ……破產。 - 破產可能是 AMC 影院的未來。

The power dynamic shifted a lot during the pandemic.

在疫情期間，權力發生了很大的變革。

In 2020, studios had newfound leverage, and one company struck while the iron was hot.

在 2020 年，因為新冠疫情，電影公司有了新的籌碼，而其中有一個公司趁熱打鐵。

Universal had this movie, "Trolls World Tour", and they had two options.

環球影業有《巨魔》這部電影，而他們給出兩個選擇。

One, they could delay it, or two, they could test what they've always wanted to do and put the movie in theaters and on video on demand on the same day.

第一、他們可以延後上映，或第二、他們可以測試他們一直想做的事情──在同一天將電影在影院和視頻點播同時上映。

And the caveat there is that there weren't any movie theaters open to play it.

但要注意到的是，當時沒有任何電影院能開門播放電影。

"Trolls World Tour" quickly became the highest-grossing digital release ever.

《魔髮精靈唱遊世界》迅速成為數位播放有史以來的最高收入。

It made more money for Universal in 3 weeks at home than the original film did in its theatrical run.

在那三週期間，它為環球影業賺的錢比原來在影院播放的表現還要好。

NBC Universal's head of film told the "Wall Street Journal", "As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats."

NBC 環球集團的高層告訴《華爾街日報》：「一旦影院重新開放，我們預計將以兩種形式發佈電影。」

In other words, in theaters and on demand at the same time.

也就是說，同時在影院和隨選點播上播放。

The two biggest theater chains in the US fired back by saying they'd never show Universal films again.

美國最大的兩家影院連鎖店以他們不再放映環球影業出品的任何電影作為回擊。

But things were different now.

但現在情況不同了。

The major film studios had restructured to make streaming their primary focus.

各大電影公司已經進行了重組，並將串流媒體作為他們的主要核心。

Warner Bros. released their entire 2021 slate in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time.

華納兄弟公司同時在影院和 HBO Max 上發佈他們 2021 年的全部影片。

Disney and Universal made a similar move.

迪斯尼和環球也採取了類似的行動。

With that upset came time for theater owners and Universal and the other studios, frankly, to start having those conversations and... and working out about what the future looks like, and what a post-pandemic model is.

伴隨著這種不安，影院業者和以環球影業在內的其他電影工作室展開了對話，討論關於未來的發展以及後疫情時代的模式。

In 2021, the major theater chains made deals to shorten the window.

2021 年，主要的連鎖影院達成了縮短窗口期的協議。

Disney, Paramount, and Warner Bros. agreed to a 45-day window in 2022 and onwards.

迪士尼、派拉蒙和華納兄弟同意在 2022 年及以後的 45 天窗口期。

But Universal got its own deal with the big theater chains.

但環球公司與大型連鎖影院卻達成了自己的協議。

They agreed to give theaters a portion of their video-on-demand revenue.

他們同意將視頻點播收入的一部分交給影院。

And, in return, they secured one of the shortest windows ever.

而作為回報，他們獲得了有史以來最短的窗口期之一。

31 days for their biggest movies, 17 days on their smaller movies.

大製作的電影是 31 天，小一點的電影則是 17 天。

But one thing that's noticeably absent from all [of] these deals is any sign of a same-day release strategy, where a movie comes out on demand and in theaters at the same time.

但從這些交易中可以看出，有一件事明顯缺席了，那便是「同天發佈」策略，指的是一部電影在點播和影院同一時間點上映。

At what seemed to be their most powerful moment, studios decided to keep the theatrical window in place.

在看似對於電影工作室最有力的時機點時，電影公司決定保留影院的窗口。

That's partly because movie theaters are still pretty big money-makers for studios.

部分原因是因為電影院對電影公司來說仍然是相當大的贏利點。

But it's also because movie theaters can sort of change how the public sees a movie.

但這也是因為電影院可以在某種程度上改變大眾是怎麼樣看待某一部電影。

Streaming customers value theatrical releases more highly.

串流媒體用戶更加看重在電影院的發行。

It... it carries with it, sort of, an aura of quality.

影院……它帶來某種品質的光環。

It "eventizes" a movie; it's a shared experience that helps become almost like a zeitgeist within the culture.

它給了電影一種「儀式感」，這是一種共同的感受，而這幾乎形成了這個時代電影文化中的精神。

The pandemic shifted the power dynamic towards movie studios and away from theaters.

這場大流行將權力動態轉移到電影工作室，而不是影院。

But it also showed that they still need each other.

但這也表明，他們仍然需要對方。

That doesn't necessarily mean theaters will be around forever.

這並不一定意味著影院會永遠存在。

But if they can survive a pandemic, maybe they're stronger than we thought.

但如果他們能在這場疫情中存活下來，也許他們比我們想象的還要強大。