The India office of Hollywood studio Universal Pictures will shut shop in the year-end. Although it would be incorrect to blame the closure solely on the pandemic lockdown and the losses which companies are suffering because of that, it’s a fact that the lockdown has accelerated the closure process. Come 1st January, 2021 and the producer of such blockbusters as Jurassic Park, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Fast & Furious films, Meet The Fockers, Jaws, Bruce Almighty, The Bourne Ultimatum, King Kong, Minions and Fifty Shades Of Grey will close down its operations in India.
After the India office downs shutters, all films of Universal will be distributed by Warner Bros. in India. As a reciprocal arrangement, Universal will distribute Warner’s films in Australia and New Zealand. According to the agreement which is under finalisation, the two Hollywood studios will work in close tandem with each other. Each studio will distribute films of the other in the territories in which it is stronger.
Actually, not just shutting down of the India office, the recalibration will see both, Warner and Universal, concentrating a great deal more than thus far, on producing films for direct release on their own OTT platforms viz. HBO Max (Warner) and Peacock (Universal). However, this does not mean that the studios will not produce films for the big screen. Of course, they will make big-screen entertainers too, but such films will be mostly event or tentpole films. Both the studios will henceforth concentrate heavily on making content for their respective streaming platforms because, as the worldwide lockdown has proven, OTT is here to stay.
It would be right to say that the move of Universal Pictures to shut down operations in India is not a short-term policy decision but rather a long-term one. The true impact of the consolidation may actually be felt after eight to ten years. With Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ becoming strong OTT platforms which are pumping in millions of dollars to generate, acquire and produce content for streaming, every Hollywood studio is trying to set up and strengthen its own streaming platform, just like Disney’s Disney+ platform.
Says a trade person wishing to remain anonymous, “After Disney acquired Fox, one can expect more such acquisitions or mergers. In the long term, there will be only three or four players in the OTT space just as there will be three or four in the multiplex space. Most single-screen cinemas will, in the final tally, be taken over or managed by the large multiplex chains, which will increase the bargaining power of both, the multiplex chains as well as the single-screen cinemas.”