What Will Change When Movie Theaters Re-Open by Susan Granger
The pre-pandemic world will not return. Too much has happened to change how movie studios release their pictures.
The pivotal questions are: How long will it take for people to feel safe enough to return to the communal venues once they reopen, and what will it take to convince them to do so?
When theaters closed, Universal decided to release its animated “Trolls World Tour” as a digital rental rather than shelving it and sacrificing all the marketing dollars it had already spent. Charging $19.99, Universal pocketed $100 million in its first three weeks.
But what happened subsequently is a post-pandemic game-changer.
NBC-Universal CEO` Jeff Shell told the Wall Street Journal that he plans to simultaneously release ALL upcoming Universal movies for home-viewing at the same time as in theaters. Infuriated, Adam Aron, CEO of AMC, the world’s biggest exhibition company, retaliated by announcing his theaters would refuse to book Universal pictures.
In 2019, US box-office revenue topped $11 billion and a record $30 billion internationally – so most distributors will be wary of sacrificing that. On the other hand, the exhibitors’- a.k.a. theater owners – traditional 75-to-90-day theatrical exclusivity window will inevitably disappear.
Movie theaters have endured world wars, depressions and recessions, along with the advent of free television to minimal-cost streaming. But COVID-19 and the global public health crisis represent an existential threat to the business of cinema.
Taking advantage of the few outdoor, drive-in-theaters that still exist, IFC Midnight’s indie horror picture “The Wretched” has topped the box-office for the fifth weekend in a row, evoking the edict: everything old becomes new again. This supernatural shocker combines mythology about Black Annie, a children-eating witch that lives underneath a tree, and Boo Hag, an Appalachian skin-stealing creature-witch.
According to the National Association of Theatre Owners, the primary exhibition trade group, our local multiplexes will initially open showing older films at steep discounts, giving them time to perfect their sanitizing and other safety procedures.
As of now, “Unhinged” will be the first new wide-release, expected to open on July 1. In this low-budget, road-rage thriller, Russell Crowe and Caren Pistorious infuriate one another in traffic. Scripted by Carl Ellsworth and directed by Derrick Borte, it was developed, produced and released by Solstice Studios.
Barring another outbreak, summer’s first big movie will be Christopher Nolan’s sci-fit thriller “Tenet,” set for July 17. Like most of Nolan’s films, its plot has been top-secret. We’re told it’s not about time-travel; it’s about people traveling through time.
John David Washington plays a superspy involved in international espionage mission to save the world. In one trailer scene, Washington is firing a gun, but the bullets are flying from a wall directly into his weapon. “It’s inverted,” he’s told. “Someone’s manufacturing them in the future.”
“Tenet” also stars Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Fiona Dourif, Kenneth Branagh and Michael Caine.
Since theaters will be selling tickets at limited capacity to allow for social distancing, “Tenet” may be playing on several screens at the same theater.
On July 24, Disney is planning to release its live-action “Mulan,” a $200-million remake, with an all-Asian cast and an elegant, yet politically charged star named Yifei Liu, who lives in Beijing but is originally from Wuhan, the coronavirus epicenter. Director Niki Caro (“Whale Rider”) chose her from more than 1,000 aspirants to play the Chinese heroine who disguises herself as a man to fight in the Imperial Army.
In August, there’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” “The One and Only Ivan,” “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Antebellum” and “Bill & Ted Face the Music.”
Family films are likely to attract the most attention in the coming weeks, meaning those that are adult-oriented will be postponed until fall, since senior citizens are likely to remain more cautious about returning to theaters before medical professionals have developed a vaccine for COVID-19.
Perhaps the first adult-themed release will be “A Quiet Place, Part II” in early September. It’s a sequel to 2018’s sleeper surprise hit with writer/director/actor John Krasinski and his wife, actress Emily Blunt. It begins with Evelyn (Blunt) and her kids driving around as Lee (Krasinski), the father, walks about town. Then the giant, vicious, spindly mutants who-hunt-through-sound re-appear.
In past years, prestige movies debut at fall film festivals, seeking audience and media reaction. Those that play well hire publicists and marketers to craft Oscar campaigns. This year will be decidedly different.
Which leads to another game-changer: eligibility rules for Award shows like the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice and Academy Awards have already been altered. If and when these 2021 kudo-fests take place, movies-made-for-theatrical release but streamed because of cinema closures will now be eligible.
In the history of major awards, no show was ever cancelled, but delays have been and will be made. The Academy is a well-funded non-profit, but its operating budget comes from the Oscar telecast. And as it completes the $482-million Academy Museum of Motion Pictures for a planned December opening, never has the Academy needed money more, making the 2021 Oscars a financial necessity.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.