The big movie theater shut down due to fears surrounding the coronavirus may continue until mid-2021, according to an analyst in the entertainment industry, which may mean no new films will get released.
Brooks Barnes, a Hollywood reporter for the New York Times, tweeted Thursday:
Media analyst Doug Creutz in a new report: “We now expect domestic theaters to be largely closed until mid-2021, in part because we don’t think studios will be interested in releasing their largest movies into a capacity-constrained footprint.”
Media analyst Doug Creutz in a new report: “We now expect domestic theaters to be largely closed until mid-2021, in part because we don’t think studios will be interested in releasing their largest movies into a capacity-constrained footprint.”
— Brooks Barnes (@brooksbarnesNYT) July 16, 2020
Update: THR offers Disney analyst Creutz said:
“We had previously assumed that the spread of COVID-19 would be relatively halted, with social distancing requirements significantly lessened by late 2020,” Creutz wrote. “We have now extended that timeline out to at least mid-2021; the situation remains very fluid, and we do not rule out the possibility that the impact could last even longer.”
Creutz said he expects “no film releases in fiscal year 2020,” which for Disney ends in September, and “a modest slate” in fiscal 2021. “We now expect domestic theaters to be largely closed until mid-2021, in part because we don’t think studios will be interested in releasing their largest movies into a capacity-constrained footprint.”
The notion the movie theater shut down will continue until 2021 follows California again recently shutting down its movie theaters, bars, restaurants, and more. Likewise, movie theaters haven’t yet opened in New York where Governor Andrew Cuomo recently released a set of draconian regulations upon the bar and restaurant industry where patrons are now required to order food when they order drinks.
Due to the coronavirus and shutdowns, movie studios have been forced to postpone release dates for all the major films or release through video-on-demand, which would be an option if the movie theater shutdowns or capacity restraint regulations continue.
Christopher Nolan’s Tenet likely impacted by movie theater shutdowns
A recent report offered that Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (Aug. 12) needs to make $800 million worldwide to make a profit, but with all the shutdowns still in effect, that seems almost impossible. To boot, a lot of movies are financed through third parties that include interest, so studios waiting on releases will make it even harder to net a profit.
So if the analyst is correct, we could see further delays with movies that are supposed to be released this year and early in 2021, which includes flicks like Wonder Woman 1984 (Oct 2), Black Widow (Nov. 6), Dune (Dec. 18), Mortal Kombat (Jan. 15), Eternals (Feb. 12), Ghostbusters 3 (Mar. 5), Morbius (Mar. 19), F9: The Fast Saga (Apr. 2), Shang-Chi (May 7), and Godzilla vs. Kong (May 21).
As I went over with the recent news of Black Adam seeing a big filming delay, Hollywood insiders have filled me in that Hollywood is in panic mode regarding the release of new content.
In regards to movie theater shutdowns and such, I went over in the Cosmic Book News Patreon how war is erupting between studios and movie theaters over streaming, as studios are leaning toward releasing new content, which includes new movies, on streaming rather than in theaters.
Also worth a mention is that there has been an uptick in regards to animated projects announced coming out of Hollywood, as animation is easier to produce with the covid restrictions set in place.
