Analyst: Here's why Warner Bros' HBO Max bombshell won't be the death knell for movies

On Thursday, Warner Bros. (T) shocked the media landscape by announcing plans to air all of its 2021 movies on HBO Max — the same day the films hit theaters.

Shares of the major theater chains plummeted on the news, as fears rippled across the industry that cinemas aren’t just dying — they’re being “murdered” at the hands of COVID-19 and the at-home streaming boom.

But is it really the end of the industry as we know it? Maybe not quite yet, according to one analyst.

“We don’t think the industry is dead, rather we think [streaming and theaters are] playing very well together,” Macquarie Analyst Chad Beynon told Yahoo Finance.

“If we take a look at the results of 2018 and 2019, movie theater revenue and profits were significant for the five major studios,” Beynon said. He added Disney’s (DIS) box office performance was especially impressive, with over $11 billion generated in 2019.

For platforms like Disney, the movie-going experience “is really the first channel of these later channels like theme parks, characters and at-home content,” he explained.

“So we still think the theater experience and economic model make sense for the studios, especially for the blockbusters,” he added. “I don’t think you’ll be able to replace those revenues and profits in the at-home market alone.”

‘Urgent dialogue’

However, the immediate threat facing theaters is very real, and time is running out for chains like AMC (AMC) to avoid bankruptcy. Just this past week, the company filed with the SEC to offer 200 million shares in order to raise $844 million.