“Project Hail Mary” and its $525 million global box office gross were no fluke, Amazon MGM Studios vowed Wednesday night as it placed a stack of James Bond novels in Las Vegas.
The technology monolith’s film division took to the main stage at CinemaCon, an annual gathering of movie theater owners, to announce its upcoming film slate and assert that the company is very serious about the $1 billion it plans to spend annually on theatrical films.
Who is the opposite? It was thinly veiled that it would be Apple, and possibly Netflix, with Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, heading the committee.
“While some of our competitors are stepping in and out of theaters, for us this is not a test or an experiment. Our commitment to release at least 15 films into theaters each year remains on schedule,” Hopkins told exhibitors. They reacted similarly, giving Hopkins a thunderous round of applause.
Apple has never had consistent annual film production obligations or set a pace for movie releases. While they enthusiastically trumpeted hits such as “F1” and the Oscar-winning Best Picture winner “CODA,” the show had been irregularly operated for nearly a decade, and there were years without a major theatrical release. And what about Netflix? That’s a completely different thing.
But much to the crowd’s delight, Hopkins and his management team said they meant business. To prove it, they enlisted the entire creative team behind “Project Hail Mary.” Producer and star Ryan Gosling and filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (understandably) received greater acclaim than Hopkins.
Gosling brought cards and bouquets of flowers as a thank you to the thousands of exhibitors and asked one lucky female spectator to take the cards and flowers and distribute them to everyone in the audience for everyone to enjoy.
Amazon’s love of theater didn’t stop at Hopkins.
“We’re making movies that give people a reason to leave the house. Movies that have scale, ambition, and something to say,” said Kevin Wilson, head of domestic theatrical distribution, standing next to Masters of the Universe stars Nicholas Galitzine and Camila Mendes.
Sue Kroll, head of global marketing for Amazon MGM, said the company “doesn’t just release movies, it champions them with the care, rigor and creativity they deserve. And now we have the ability to combine that foundation with something completely unique: the power and reach of Amazon.”
