When Warner Media gave HBO Max the right to stream big Warner Bros. movies the same day as they hit theaters, everyone knew that the privilege would not last forever. And today, as more theaters across the country begin to reopen, the news of the end of HBO Max and its simultaneous release in theaters seems as inevitable as Thanos snapping his fingers.

The news comes from Deadline, which reports that "the Warner Bros. theatrical film will have a 45-day theatrical exclusive at Cineworld's Regal chain in 2022. This means that the remaining films appearing on HBO Max on day one ("Godzilla vs. Kong," "Mortal Kombat," "Suicide Squad," "Dune," "The Matrix 4," etc.) will be HBO Max's last attempt. So get ready to see "Batman" in theaters in 2022.

The plan for these films is that they will be released on HBO Max for the first 30 days before disappearing from the streaming service, which will also be in theaters.

It is difficult to ascertain whether this HBO Max experiment was worth it. Warner Media has not released an index for major films like "Wonder Woman 1984" or "Judas and the Black Messiah". However, Warner Media has stated that WW1984's release on streaming services "broke records and exceeded our expectations," but what does this mean?

Take Netflix's audience numbers, for example. The numbers released by the streaming service reflect only those who "chose to watch and watched for at least two minutes." And by this metric, you don't have to go past episode 1 to be counted as someone who watched The Witcher. So who knows how HBO Max arrived at that vague number?

Warner's decision to bring the movie straight to its streaming service does not seem to have ruffled any feathers except those of its own creators. Christopher Nolan, for example, was incredibly candid in his public response, saying, "Warner Bros. had a great machine for bringing a filmmaker's work to any location, whether it be a movie theater or a home. He made this observation while promoting "Tenet," which arrives on HBO Max (which he called "the worst streaming service") this May 1.

Universal's similarly uncharacteristic decision to distribute its films on pay video-on-demand during the first few months of the pandemic also initially caused a backlash; AMC threatened to boycott Universal's films, but the two sides later worked out a deal.

Concurrent with the announcement of the theatrical exclusivity, Cineworld announced that it would reopen U.S. Regal cinemas on April 2 (a few days after the March 31 release), beginning with "Godzilla vs. Kong"; on April 16, "Mortal Kombat" (another HBO Max film), more Regal movie theaters will reopen.

This 45-day theatrical exclusivity window may become the new standard for short pre-streaming windows. Paramount Plus will be streaming Mission: Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place: 45 days after their theatrical release, while Paramount Plus will be streaming Mission: Impossible 7 and The Quiet Place: Part II.