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Warner Bros. Discovery has said British laws that restrict the period distributors can require exhibitors to screen their films may now be “outdated,” and it is time for the UK government to consider repealing the legislation.
The longtime Exhibition Periods law, codified in 1996, limits the period a distributor may require an exhibitor to show a film in the first six weeks of theatrical release to a maximum of two weeks.
Warner Bros. said that “given the move to digital exhibition and additional flexibility exhibitors have to show screenings,” the Periods law may no longer hold relevance, and scrapping the law may open up new sources of revenue for distributors.
Warner Bros. made the comments in a written submission to the UK Parliament’s influential Culture, Media, and Sport Committee, which is holding an inquiry on high-end film and TV.
The studio said: “By removing such a restriction, this may give theatrical distributors, including for independent British films, more confidence and incentive to release films theatrically because they may be able to negotiate a longer exhibition run with individual exhibitors.
“For example, generally speaking, most films generate the majority of their box office admissions in the first four weeks of release, and so the opportunity to secure an extra two weeks of exhibition may make a material difference as to whether some films are released theatrically and/or are able to justify an increased publicity and advertising campaign.”
Elsewhere in their submissions to the Committee, Warner Bros. said Greta Gerwig’s box office smash Barbie, the studio’s most successful theatrical release of all time, contributed over £80m in direct spend to the local economy and created 685 jobs during its production in the UK.
The pic, which has taken £95m at the UK box office, was shot at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden just outside London.
Over 130 pieces of written evidence from across the industry were handed to the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee. Contributors included studios such as Paramount and Amazon alongside institutions such as the British Film Institute and UK producers body Pact, which concluded in their comments that the UK’s independent film sector is “now at the point of market failure.”
Pact said: “Challenging market conditions, increased cost of talent and crew, and changing viewing habits have made it increasingly difficult for indie films to compete with HETV and big-budget US Studio films.”
The producer’s body added that the decline in the UK indie sector is due to multiple changes such as the “slow return” of audiences to the cinemas and recommended increasing the country’s tax relief to 40% for films with budgets between £1m – £15 million. The relief is currently at 25%.
Pact added: “Without urgent Government intervention, the sector will no longer be viable, impacting the talent pipeline and jobs across the indie film sector and the wider audiovisual economy.”
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