“Challengers”, the anticipated tennis drama starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and “West Side Story”’s Mike Faist, will skip out on a French theatrical release and premiere on Prime Video instead.
The streamer announced the move on Monday during an upscale press event held at the Pavillon Royal on the outskirts of Paris.
Prime Video’s country managing director for France, Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, stated that the decision was made in lieu of France’s strict windowing rules, which prevents streamers from making a new film available on their services until 15 to 17 months after its theatrical roll out.
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“We’re a strong partner for French cinema and well-established talent. We contribute to the National Film Board’s subsidy scheme, but streaming services have been incited to not opt for theatrical releases for our original films,” Ricou-Bellan told journalists, as per Variety. “Subscription-based services have been placed at a strong disadvantage compared due to this windowing system.”
She noted that there’s currently “very active dialogues” to update the rules, which she “truly hopes will lead to more flexibility to benefit audiences and Prime subscribers in particular.”
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The executive added that Prime Video is “continuing to favour the expectations of fans and our members,” seemingly hinting that Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” won’t be the streamer’s last flick to surrender a French cinema release.
This isn’t the first time that the notorious rule has led a studio to skip out on releasing projects in French cinemas. For example, in June 2022, Disney decided to debut “Strange World” on streaming later that same year.
Elsewhere during the event, Prime Video announced nine new French original titles, including the upcoming heist romance, “Sulak”, starring Melanie Laurent and “Emily in Paris” actor Lucas Bravo.
Despite “Challengers” forgoing a theatrical release in France, the film will still be released in theatres in all other territories.
