Sanford Panitch, President of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, talked about the power of Japanese IP – and how entertainment culture has become both more niche and more global – in a Cannes Marche keynote celebrating Japan as this year’s Country Of Honor. 

He also talked about the resilience of theatrical releasing, as well as Sony’s decision to become a supplier to global streamers, rather than operate its own platform, noting that since the pandemic many franchises based on Japanese IP have had worldwide theatrical success. 

“It’s incredibly challenging to have box office anymore without IP,” said Panitch, in conversation with entertainment consultant Atsuo Nakayama. “In the current marketplace and with the explosion of streaming, the bar for theatrical is so high now that IP has become super value. 

“That’s where we’re seeing unique opportunity in Japan because of the fandom and fanship related to Japanese anime and IP,” he continued. “Anywhere in the world that has become extra value.”

As a Japanese company, Sony has produced many of these Japanese IP-based franchises; also owns anime powerhouses Aniplex and Crunchyroll, and invests in Japanese live-action films adapted from manga, including five movies in the Kingdom franchise. Upcoming international projects based on Japanese IP include Resident Evil, Legend Of Zelda and Japanese director Takashi Yamazaki’s first Hollywood film Grandgear. 

Panitch also talked about the “end of monoculture” and how streaming has enabled a huge amount of fragmentation in what was previously a mass market audience. “That’s where Japan has a very unique opportunity, because the fragmentation has created a subculture with anime that has now grown extraordinarily. We own Crunchyroll which now has more than 20 million subscribers outside of Japan.”

Acknowledging the challenges faced by theatrical in the post-pandemic era – “movie tickets cost the same price as one month of Netflix” – Panitch also noted that many Crunchyroll titles, most recently Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle, have had huge theatrical success globally. Even movies adapted from IP with smaller fanbases than Demon Slayer, such as Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, have enjoyed strong global box office.

“Again, that goes back to fanship and what’s authentic to those fans,” Panitch said. “Not everything needs to be for all the people all the time. That’s what we mean by the end of monoculture – these smaller subcultures can be very deep – although the 20 millions fans we have subscribing to Crunchyroll tells you that it’s also not niche.” 

When asked about Sony’s decision to supply streamers rather than become one, Panitch said: “We came in late in terms of the streaming world and found the strategy of being able to sell to everyone was ultimately better, certainly for the TV side..because our primary mission is being a partner with the creators themselves. You want to be able to be a partner to them and find the best home [for their content] anywhere in the world.” 

He added that Sony had a “very unique situation” over the past year where the studio worked with more than one streaming platform in the Pay One window, but theatrical was still the priority on the film side. 

“Typically by the time [the film] gets to a streaming service, it has existed for around 100 days as a full theatrical run, which is very important to us. There’s been a strange phenomenon, how oftentimes movies on streaming services don’t make the impact culturally that movies in theaters can do. Then we have our whole home entertainment run and then we go to Pay One after that. So I think that’s given us a nice platform to be able to expand the IP to its maximum potential in its most valuable window.”

He also talked about films created for streaming services that ended up being distributed in cinemas, noting Netflix’s decision to release Greta Gerwig’s Narnia theatrically, and Apple’s strategy with Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, which Sony released in theatres worldwide.

“I think Apple came to realize that if it was launched globally, theatrically, by a proper global distributor, then ultimately it would have more value on this service,” Panitch said. “So I continue to believe that the theatrical experience is still the biggest opportunity to create global IP.”

Noting the growing trend for 18 to 35-year-old audiences to return to cinemas, Panitch remarked: “Film for the most part has remained pretty stable, despite the scale of content being created on streaming platforms. And in terms of IP creation, there’s almost never been a global IP created from a streaming service, and yet there’s around $20B a year spent on content for streaming services.” 

Panitch’s talk was part of a packed programme of events celebrating Japan’s selection as Country of Honor in the Cannes Marche. Earlier in the day, Filosophia Inc CEO Tetsu Fujimura, who executive produced the live-action One Piece series, gave a talk on the future of Japanese IP.

The programme also includes screenings of Japanese films; Japanese IP and project pitching, a case study of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s competition title All Of A Sudden, and panels on Japanese co-production, innovations in exhibition and new models in film finance.