By Caitlyn Gosa
With blockbuster movies being indefinitely delayed and celebrities with COVID-19, movie theaters struggle to reopen worldwide. Not only movie theaters are struggling, every aspect of the movie industry is changing to adapt to the global pandemic.
Hollywood has been reliant on at home releases of feature films, since a theater debut would be impossible. Major production companies have sold their lower budget content to streaming services in hopes to turn a profit.
This method has proved successful for a few films. For example, Trolls World Tour broke digital streaming records and made over $77 million in revenue. However, other movies like Mulan with large production values are not as profitable. Home releases are costing production companies money from piracy more than movie theater releases.
Initial digital release of films has also caused some unlikely successes, for example Palm Springs. It was received positively amongst critics and viewers became one of the most popular movies to watch in quarantine, even though it is a short movie (one hour and 30 mintues) from a relatively unknown director.
Although production companies found other ways to release their movies and make revenue, companies like Regal and AMC were not as lucky. As of October, 500 Regal theaters have permanently closed. With streaming services, the movie theater business was already dying out, but the added factors of the pandemic causing theaters to close and the likelihood of failed attempts to reopen due to fear of contact with other theater patrons has the business is dying faster than before.
On a local scene, the Anthony Wayne theater which has been in business since 1928 is also facing hard times. Some patrons are continuously trying to save this local treasure with donations or sponsoring seats. As many large theater companies have started to reopen, Anthony Wayne has temporarily closed.
The process to reopen has been equally difficult, with blockbuster movies holding out on a proper theatrical release after COVID-19. This has resulted in theaters opening with the only three new titles, and to combat the low amounts of new films, theaters have been playing old pictures just to stay in business.
Within the theater, the precautions taken to maintain social distancing and keep patrons healthy change the theater experience. Purchasing tickets are purely online or through self-purchase stations within the theater lobby. When purchasing online, seats are marked so that social distancing remains in place.
Inside the theater masks must stay on through the entire duration of the film, except for eating and drinking. Surprisingly food and drinks are still being served in some theaters, but it is encouraged to order ahead and pick up the food at arrival and go straight into the theater.
The first large blockbuster to have a theatrical release since theater closures is Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. After multiple delays, the long-anticipated film released first in international theaters on August 26 to be followed by United States theaters weeks later, on September 3.
The general audience for Hollywood films is the United States, so by withholding the domestic release of Tenet and relying on worldwide sales the movie ultimately flopped. As of now the movie has only made $307 million worldwide at the box office after nearly three months of a theatrical run, this is considered a financial flop for a big blockbuster film.
Tenet was estimated to make $400 million break-even point. It is hoped that the movie will gross a larger profit after it releases digitally on December 15. With digital access the movie will be able to reach a wider audience as seen in the past with films like Fight Club, the second video/digital release proved to be more successful than the theatrical one.
As movie production restarts, precautions need to be in place to protect the cast and crew on movie sets. Each movie is handling this restart differently since the threat of COVID-19 varies depending on the location.
With production resuming The Batman set unfortunately faced further complications, with the lead Robert Pattinson, contracting COVID-19 two days into filming. Without the lead production halted again, it was announced that the already delayed October 1, 2021 release will drastically be pushed to March 4, 2022.
A part of blockbuster releases is press tours to advertise the film around the world; this year these were done via online conference applications. The online press junkets were game based rather than serious questioning on the films since online conferencing isn’t harder to communicate with. Most production companies cancelled press tours all together opting to focus on social media advertising.
In the case of No Time to Die, which originally had a release date of April 2020. The film’s press and premiere were to be held in China right, but ultimately, they decided to postpone the debut for 2021.
2020 was supposed to be a big year for Marvel and DC, with the release of Black Widow and Wonder Woman 1984. This is the first year without a Marvel movie since 2009. Unlike Marvel, DC is still clinging to a 2020 release for Wonder Woman in December.
Additionally, many films usually first debut to critics and filmmakers at film festivals, before releasing to a wider audience. This year all festivals were cancelled or online except for the Venice Film Festival, but the biggest change was the absence of nearly all big budget Hollywood films.
Surprisingly the Venice film festival was a success, many believe that because it more traditional this year. Mostly since the selection of films were more authentic and art-house foreign films since Americans were restricted in travel, there weren’t any huge Hollywood movies.
After last year’s controversy with Todd Philip’s Joker winning at Venice, this different selection was a welcome change. This year Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland won, making her the first female winner in over a decade. The film is set for an early December release; it has received unanimous critical praise and is a more typical winner for the festival.
The Venice festival limited celebrity attendance, including the absence of many American movie stars and therefore, there was a decline in paparazzi and press.
All celebrities that did attend were required to wear face coverings except during pictures. Unfortunately, in typical movie style, many cannot pass up a fashion opportunity, and so many masks were over stylized rather than functional.
The Venice film festival also gained more attention since it was not outshined by Cannes and many thought it reclaimed its glory after its reputation was dampened in the 2019 festival.
How the movie industry will come back after a pandemic is still unknown. One thing is certain, this year's complications will have a ripple effect for years to come, and just might change the industry for a long time.