Will Packer on Switching to Streaming with Peacock’s ‘Praise This’

After making more than $1.4 billion at the box office, producer Will Packer has gotten into the streaming game with “Praise This.”

The Peacock original marks Packer’s first time producing a movie that wasn’t destined for cinemas. While the new distribution plan might seem like a reaction to the hit or miss theatrical business — or the kind of pivot that would happen after a box office bomb, which Packer has yet to suffer, by the way — that’s not what’s behind the change in strategy.

“Malleable” is a word Packer has found himself using quite often in reference to the current state of moviemaking.

“I’ve had a lot of success with movies that were moderately-budgeted breakout theatrical hits,” he tells Variety over tea at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City. “But there are some of my movies that were successful theatrically five to 10 years ago that I don’t think would have the same success today, because it’s a different environment. That’s okay. Media always changes. You’ve got to be malleable and look at your ultimate goals.”

Thus, the prolific producer — whose eponymous production company has seen 10 movies open No. 1 domestically, including “Stomp the Yard” and the “Think Like a Man” and “Ride Along” franchises – is diversifying his portfolio.

“Within a 12-month period, I’ve had ‘Beast,’ which is a theatrical film; ‘Praise This,’ which is a streaming film; another streaming film [‘Dashing Through the Snow’], which is releasing later this year on Disney+; and then I am going into production, hopefully, this fall on a theatrical movie,” he says. “I’ve got to be able to make ’em in a variety of ways and I’ve got to be able to think of my audience.”

Billed as a “cinematic musical event,” the Peacock movie stars Grammy nominee Chlöe Bailey as Sam, an aspiring musician from Los Angeles whose troublemaking ways cause her father to send her to live with relatives in Atlanta. With A-Town as a major hip-hop capitol, this could be Sam’s big break and a chance to collaborate with hitmakers like Ty (real-life megastar Quavo). Instead, Sam is forced to join her overeager cousin Jess (a charming Anjelika Washington) and her struggling, underdog praise team (think a gospel choir’s younger, cooler cousin) in the lead-up to a national championship competition. Can Sam lean in and let divine intervention lead her to the promised land of both musical superstardom and a newfound spirituality?

Packer produced “Praise This” alongside frequent collaborator Tim Story (their fifth film following “Think Like a Man” and its sequel, plus the “Ride Along” movies), and has reunited with writer-director Tina Gordon (after “Little” and “What Men Want”). The story comes from the writing team of Brandon Broussard, Hudson Obayuwana and Jana Savage — collectively known as Murder Ink — who are credited for the screenplay alongside Gordon. The idea started with Antoine (A.J.) Jenkins, then a young executive at Story’s production company, who pitched a movie set in the world of competitive praise teams. Packer — a lover of competition and sports stories like “You Got Served,” “Any Given Sunday” and “A League of Their Own” — instantly recognized the pitch’s potential.

“I had been wanting to do something in the faith-based space, but not traditional,” Packer says, relating selling the idea to his process getting 2007’s “Stomp the Yard” off the ground.

“I wanted to tell a story about HBCUs and Black fraternities and sororities. Hollywood didn’t get that movie,” he recalls. “But you know what they get? Dance movies — a genre that was certainly working at that time — so I packaged it as a dance movie. While there, people learned a little something about HBCU culture.”

Similarly, “Praise This” puts a fresh spin on gospel-tinged tales like “Sister Act” or “The Fighting Temptations,” to which moviegoers were shepherded to theaters by their church groups. It also sprinkles in the contemporary spirit of Universal’s “Pitch Perfect,” though the new movie’s musical language is slightly more sanctified and certainly Blacker.

Regardless, it’s a comparison Packer embraces: “I love that movie, and a lot of people saw ‘Pitch Perfect.’ It’s a big ‘ol hit. But it didn’t connect with my daughters, and I wanted to make something that would hopefully get them to engage.”

Read on as Packer explains why he’s switching up his strategy and how he evaluates the theatrical landscape.

What have you made of the early reaction to the film?

I have been really emboldened by the response from “real people.” I place a premium on the opinions of folks that are outside the industry. I’ve always been like that. It is something that has served me well, in terms of the content I create and choose to be a part of. People were surprised at the approach that we took.

There was an expectation that this would be a more traditional faith-based movie. I wanted to make a movie that would appeal to people that haven’t been to church in a while or maybe never; that can’t recite one Bible verse. For the 20-somethings — the Chloe Bailey, Quavo, Druski-types — out there in the world who find church feels exclusive.

Too often, that church experience becomes identified with having faith and spirituality. I believe that there is no gatekeeper for a relationship with God, with a higher power, with your own personal faith and spirituality. That’s not a church, or a denomination, or a pastor — each of us can find that.

How do you convince the studio that a non-traditional approach makes sense?

One of my first quotes when I was pitching this to the studio was, “I actually want to piss off some church folks.” If I don’t make the traditional church community a little bit uncomfortable, I haven’t done my job. I thought of it in that edgy way and they were on board, because I do have a track record.

How did the conversation with Universal and Peacock about going straight to streaming begin?

Before we went into production, there was a conversation with the Universal Pictures team that Peacock would really like this movie, and this would be the first original movie released under the Peacock brand and service, because they’d had several movies that were day-and-date.

We talked about it from an economic standpoint and from a creative standpoint, but those weren’t really the drivers for me. It was the ability to reach the broadest possible audience, and you’ve got to be malleable these days in terms of where the biggest audience is.

Let’s talk about the economic aspect. “Beast” was a financial success, despite the pandemic, making nearly $60 million — well over its $36 million budget. It’s not big IP. It’s not a superhero movie. When you were deciding to debut “Praise This” on Peacock, how did you weigh the economics?

With box office, a significant portion of the compensation is contingent, and that usually has a higher ceiling than streaming. Streaming compensation is not typically contingent on how many people watch it; the streamers will compensate you upfront, and it is based what they think the film can do. Whether a million people see it or 100 million people see it, your compensation is your compensation.

To take it to a sports analogy — which I love to do — if you think you’re going to hit a double, then streaming makes a lot of sense. If you think you’ve got a true grand slam home run, then you go box office. Now I, like every other filmmaker in this industry, operate under the same economic imperative, but there was something different with this film.

I know some of my peers feel like if it’s not part of the theatrical moviegoing experience, then that’s not the way they intended for it to be seen and that it’s somehow missing an opportunity. I will not argue that point. But, as storytellers, if indeed, you want as many people as possible to see it, you’ve got to be realistic about where they are.

How is the theatrical movie business?

Theatrical audiences are coming back, and there are certainly films that are showing that there is some pent-up demand. We’re not back at pre-COVID levels, but it’s trending in the right direction. That’s good for the industry across the board.

In a theatrical marketplace, there needs to be an “urgency” for audiences. They can’t just say, “Oh, I want to see that.” That ain’t it. They’ve got to say, “I have to see it – and I have to see it now.” If you have those boxes checked, then I think that you potentially could do very well theatrically. Certain types of films will continue to perform theatrically, but I am very realistic in the fact that some of the films that I’ve made in the past would probably be better suited for streaming these days.

“Beast” is said to have done very well streaming following its theatrical release. Was there any demographic information that gave you some insight into how to market to a streaming audience?

Yes, and no. I am somebody that approaches the filmmaking process in a creative, yet analytical way. I have a background in electrical engineering, and people ask me all the time, “Do you feel like you’ve wasted your time getting that degree?” And I say, “Absolutely not.” I think it gives me a leg up on my peers that I approach problem-solving in a creative industry in an analytical way. I’m somebody that says, “Give me as much data as possible and it will affect the way that I move forward and construct content.”

In terms of who the audience was for “Beast” — Who saw it in theaters? Who saw it on streaming? — that is very informative for me. With “Praise This,” though, it was more about who the audience is on Peacock. What are they looking for? What are they consuming? And how are they consuming it? I wanted to make something that was tailor made for an audience that was already there and an audience that we hope to bring to the platform.

Is there anything you can share about what that audience is?

Look at Peacock as a platform and what’s working: They have been open about “Bel-Air” and “The Best Man,” and they have sports that do really well. So we looked at who was there, and who we think we could bring to that platform, and that’s what informed how we cast the movie and certain elements that we put in.

It’s a movie that leads with its music. Where can you have a mashup with Beyoncé and Cardi B and gospel lyrics, right? I love that. It brings you in with the music, hopefully keeps you laughing with some levity, and then hopefully, underneath, it’s got a message about faith and spirituality. Those elements are tailor made for this Peacock audience.

Because Universal and Peacock had already seen how to successfully market this genre after “Pitch Perfect,” did that made it even easier for them to understand the vision?

No question. They get the tentpoles that you need to put up to get attention for a movie like this, because they’ve done it; they knew there was a shorthand about this type of movie. but I also think that there’s a specificity to “Praise This” that makes it different. But I don’t run from that.

Look, Hollywood is a reactive industry. They want to see what’s already working and then do more of it, so that is why you have the Hollywood trope of “this-meets-this,” because that’s the language that we speak out there. So, you certainly can say that about a film like this has elements of “Pitch Perfect” and “Sister Act” or “The Fighting Temptations” or “Stomp the Yard,” but I don’t run from that. If you can do it well, and do it different, audiences respond to it. That’s the barometer that I choose to subscribe to.

Obviously, “Pitch Perfect” spun off into the Peacock streaming series “Bumper in Berlin.” Do you have any intentions of franchising “Praise This?”

I would love all of the above. I want “all of the things” as they say. When I look at [franchising], it’s like, “Do you invest enough in these characters and want to take another journey with them?” I have made some films that I feel like a sequel is clearly just a money play. I don’t feel like that with this.

Ultimately, the audience will let us know if they want to take the journey with these characters. We’ve got ideas about how to do that, but I don’t put the cart before the horse. If there is an opportunity that makes sense, I would embrace it wholeheartedly.