F9 Opens Big Overseas & A Conversation with Distribution Veteran Bob Berney

In this week’s episode of The Boxoffice Podcast, co-hosts Daniel Loria and Rebecca Pahle discuss promising signs at the overseas box office—including a great reopening weekend in the UK and the first $100 million-plus of the pandemic with F9’s debut in China.

In the feature segment, distribution veteran Bob Berney, CEO of Picturehouse and the former head of marketing and distribution at Amazon Studios, joins Daniel to talk about the current state of theatrical distribution. Berney shares his insights on the current volatility in the market as streaming companies make a play for big movies and major franchises at the multiplex, while specialty players learn to adapt to a market without the influence of the film festival circuit.

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Episode Resources:

• Picturehouse
• Amazon Enters Into Agreement to Acquire MGM
• The Sound of Silence: A Quiet Place Part II Sound Editors Speak Up
• Spiral Adds $4.5M in Quiet Domestic Weekend, F9 Shines in Overseas Debut
• F9 Sets New Pandemic Box Office Benchmark with Overseas Debut
• Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Takes Top Spot in the Return of UK Cinemas

What to Listen For

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:07 The UK market reopens
• 04:44 F9 opens big in China
• 07:51 The long-term impact of shortened theatrical exclusivity window
• 10:58 F9’s performance in other overseas markets
• 13:31 High stakes for the domestic market over Memorial Day weekend
• 18:25 Seeing where we are at with recovery efforts
• 20:42 Picturehouse CEO Bob Berney
• 27:14 The role of new films in the recovery effort from the pandemic
• 31:06 Independent films need word of mouth
• 34:54 The missing piece that will connect indie films to audiences
• 41:26 Metrics of success for streaming platforms
• 42:36 Survival of the theatrical experience with renewed competition from streamers