Before we all began quarantining, I was hoping to write an article about how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect the movie industry. Even by late March, we had already seen the postponement of the latest James Bond film – No Time To Die – from April to November, and it looked like Disney was considering a similar push for Black Widow. In addition to these delays, film productions around the world had begun to shut down due to fear of spreading the virus among large crews. There was a lot of uncertainty around the pandemic then, and no one was quite sure of how long-lasting the effects might be on the media industry. It’s been seven months since then and a lot of things have changed in the world, cinema being one of them. With theaters closed during the summer blockbuster season, 2020 has seen very few major movie releases, with many projects being pushed back months down the road. Even the Oscars have been postponed until April next year because there just aren’t enough films to consider. On the flip side, movie productions have been slow to start up again due to the COVID risk. All of this has had a major impact on studios’ release schedules and box office results in 2020, but that’s nothing in comparison to what this pandemic means for the future of the cinema.
To understand the problems facing the film industry in the coming years, we need to examine just how films have been affected over the past few months. Productions on movies – especially the big blockbusters – often include crews of hundreds of people, hardly ideal when trying to combat a pandemic. Due to the size of these teams, studios were forced to suspend filming on most of their projects, which meant that the release dates for many of these films had to be pushed back. Editing is where everything comes together, and for the big money-making movies, a year is usually required for post-production between the end of principal photography and release. Projects simply can’t debut on schedule when there’s no filming to be had, meaning that the entire summer movie season – where the billions are made – had to be postponed to next year. Studios have even had to sit on completed films. There’s been no shortage of delays as the months have gone by, from Fast & Furious 9 to No Time To Die to Dune. Disney even had to push back their entire slate of Marvel movies by a year. Since theaters didn’t even begin to open up again until August, rich corporations had to find other ways to make money off the finished films they were sitting on. Among the movies that debuted on streaming services this year were Scoob!, The King of Staten Island, Artemis Fowl, Da 5 Bloods, Palm Springs, and many more. Of course, Disney also released their live-action Mulan on Disney+ this past summer, at the low-low price of thirty dollars. While that price sort of makes sense for families, it sure made a lot of people online mad. But I think there was another virtual release in 2020 that caused even more of an uproar, with a story that passed many people by but almost had fatal consequences for the industry as we know it.
The realization of digital success caused some problems for Universal Pictures earlier in the year. Of all the movies that could cause major conflict in the film industry, I don’t think anyone suspected Trolls World Tour to ignite a war between giant corporations. This new DreamWorks film was slated to release in a select number of theaters in the U.S. due to the pandemic. Seeing the low margin of success in releasing to cinemas, Universal opted to release the movie on digital the same day. With customers presumably seeing they could watch the film from the safe comfort of their home, Trolls World Tour topped the rental charts. Seeing the potential gain in tandem digital/theatrical releases, Universal had the bright idea to announce they would be releasing more films this way. Obviously, this would have had major financial consequences for movie theaters. Why should people go out to see a film when it’s available On-Demand? In response to this, AMC Theaters – the largest movie theater chain in America – announced they would no longer play any films distributed by Universal Pictures. None. Regal Cinemas also joined in on this boycott. Luckily, the companies came to an agreement where Universal’s films will have to play in theaters for at least seventeen days before hitting digital (a whopping reduction from the typical ninety days). However, if this conflict had continued, it would have had disastrous effects on the industry. Universal is a major film studio, and if they were to be blocked from theaters and prioritize digital releases, it might have permanently driven people away from the cinema experience. Regardless of how successful the digital profits could have been for Universal, their pulling out of theaters might have meant other major studios doing the same. This would have robbed cinemas of their main source of income. So then no movies would have been getting released in theaters and no one would have been making any money, and if no one was making any money, then no movies would get made. In conclusion, Trolls World Tour almost destroyed the entire film industry in like a week.
Still, just because Universal and AMC made up doesn’t mean that movie theaters’ troubles were solved. In August, theaters began to open again all around the world, even in America, despite its COVID rates staying strong. With all the delays, no one was sure which film would be the first to return to the big screen and bring back the theater experience. But there was one legendary director who had adamantly refused to send his blockbuster to streaming services: Christopher Nolan. The visionary behind films such as The Dark Knight, Inception, and Interstellar, Nolan is a director who has always championed classical filmmaking and providing audiences with the most authentic experience possible. So Netflix was a no-go for his new spy thriller/time travel epic Tenet. Released on September 3rd in America and the previous week in seventy other countries, Tenet debuted in every theater willing to play it. But despite the hype surrounding the movie, it has only made $334 million on a $200 million budget in two months, a poor showing considering the additional costs and the success of some of Nolan’s other films. So what did this prove? People aren’t ready to head back to theaters yet, especially in the United States. But now movie theaters have been forced to open, and they’re the real ones paying the price. Walk into our local Legacy Place’s Showcase Cinema right now and you’ll find multiple theaters playing Tenet and other films for no one to see. But because of their contractual obligations with these studios when it comes to showing big, tentpole movies, theaters have to keep the lights on, and some of them can’t afford to. With no one coming to see the shows, the theaters aren’t doing too well. Regal Cinemas announced that they would be suspending operations at all their U.S. locations in October. Just last week, AMC announced that they were planning to sell fifteen million shares and that investors are warning of potential bankruptcy. That’s coming from AMC – the biggest theater chain in the country. Movies are suffering on a local level, and with the delays and production hang-ups, they’re suffering on a corporate level, too. Sure, some films have gone back to shoot, but until America can better combat this virus, both movie theaters and movie studios simply won’t be able to make ends meet.
Many industries have suffered due to the world-altering changes of 2020, and film is no exception to the slew of casualties. This pandemic – one of the most important events in our modern history – is inevitably going to have a major impact on all forms of entertainment, both from an artistic standpoint and a financial one. It’s unclear how movies will move forward after all these delays, cancellations, and closings, but one thing’s for sure: in a few years, the film industry is bound to look very different from what it did before this all started.