The drawback of releasing films on OTT platforms

...there's no box office collection to balance out the negative reviews. Zoya has a good box office record, and if Archies had done well at the box office, the online hate might have neutralized, similar to what happened with Animal. Now, with the negative word-of-mouth online, people are hate-watching it, and though there are some unpopular positive opinions, they get lost in the sea of negativity.

If Animal had released on OTT and hadn't received the blockbuster tag right away, we'd have to rely solely on the negative online reviews.

Thoughts?

If anything it's a good thing. Archies would have bombed badly at the box office. Because it's free and people are hate watching it, Zoya can at least claim it's trending and got people talking and therefore got a lot of views.

If Archies would have released in theatre it would have been disaster.

Makers knew it hence released on OTT to save faces.

Originally posted by: naaznin

If Archies would have released in theatre it would have been disaster.

Makers knew it hence released on OTT to save faces.

That's not how it works. Archies was announced as a Netflix original before it even started shooting. Netflix is broadening its reach and partnering with filmmakers to produce films for their platform. Other Indian Netflix originals like Jaane Jaan, Lust Stories, Qala, etc., follow a similar pattern. It's not a matter of quality; they are designed for OTT platforms right from the start. Netflix owns the rights from the beginning and can choose to release them in theaters for profit or digitally to expand their subscriber base. For instance, they released Glass Onions Knives Out in limited theaters for a week before bringing it to their platform, even though the movie could have easily earned over a billion dollars in theaters.

Originally posted by: Lord_Voldemort

If anything it's a good thing. Archies would have bombed badly at the box office. Because it's free and people are hate watching it, Zoya can at least claim it's trending and got people talking and therefore got a lot of views.

Well, we'll never find out if it would have bombed at the box office or not. Did anyone anticipate such massive earnings for an A-rated, 3-hour-plus movie? There's confirmation bias now that Animal has already been released and earned big, but the box office is unpredictable. Tiger 3 tanked, and 12th Fail did well, so it might have worked or might not have. Considering Zoya's previous track record, it might have. The main point is, if it had performed well at the box office, those results could have balanced out the negative online criticism, similar to what happened with Veere Di Wedding. Nothing silences detractors quite like a solid box office collection.

Originally posted by: FatalFlaw

Well, we'll never find out if it would have bombed at the box office or not. Did anyone anticipate such massive earnings for an A-rated, 3-hour-plus movie? There's confirmation bias now that Animal has already been released and earned big, but the box office is unpredictable. Tiger 3 tanked, and 12th Fail did well, so it might have worked or might not have. Considering Zoya's previous track record, it might have. The main point is, if it had performed well at the box office, those results could have balanced out the negative online criticism, similar to what happened with Veere Di Wedding. Nothing silences detractors quite like a solid box office collection.

Originally posted by: Lord_Voldemort

Animal had violence, sex, misogyny and toxic masculinity, which appeal to the audience. Archies offers nothing. It would have been a disaster.

Well, if you're going to break it down that plainly, I'd say films without sex, violence, misogyny, and toxic masculinity have succeeded at the box office before, while movies with explicit content have failed numerous times.

They can also claim it’s a hit on OTT cos we never get actual figures

If it came I cinemas SRK would probably cover more losses than Boney or Bachchan

Originally posted by: FatalFlaw

Well, if you're going to break it down that plainly, I'd say films without sex, violence, misogyny, and toxic masculinity have succeeded at the box office before, while movies with explicit content have failed numerous times.