By George Robbins
The Star Wars franchise is one that now spans entire generations and has a fan base many franchises wish they could have in terms of size and loyalty to the brand. There are countless ways that Lucasfilms keeps their fans on the line to keep them interested in their next project. Not only does Lucasfilms do what they can to keep fans in the bleachers, but fans themselves find ways to keep themselves immersed in the community. Unfortunately the coronavirus pandemic makes it just a bit more difficult for the community to band together and get excited for all things Star Wars. Usually there are conventions that get fans the world over to come and spend time with one another while awaiting new information for the franchise they love.
This is something that will not get to happen this year unfortunately since, just like other conventions like Comic Con, the annual Star Wars Celebration convention was canceled. This isn’t really too much of a surprise to anyone since the virus is starting to make a comeback now. Lucasfilms decided that it would be far too dangerous even with restrictions for them to host the annual convention. This isn’t even the first convention that was Star Wars related to be canceled this year. The May the 4th Star Wars convention was shut down to some extent due to the fact that conventions themselves are breeding grounds for disease. This didn’t stop the convention from being hosted online as a virtual convention.
It seems as though Lucasfilms will not be following in that conventions footsteps as they have completely canceled the event. There will not even be an online variant of the convention to take its place in August, instead the event will not be held again until August of 2022. Fans who had already purchased tickets can choose to transfer those to 2022, receiving a limited-edition Stormtrooper character pin as thanks. Alternatively, they can also choose to receive a refund, or exchange the cost of the ticket for credits for Star Wars merchandise. The refund request process will run from June 22nd to August 26th for anyone that wants their money back or put towards something else.
The cancellation of this convention is a heavy blow to Star Wars fans since it is the way that new content is laid out for future plans for the franchise. All of the huge announcements about the upcoming titles involved with it are usually made at that convention and now there won’t be one for two years. Not only have they decided to cancel the event this year, but they are going to be skipping it entirely next year. One of the only reasons for that is because although it is still a year out, there is no telling just how long this pandemic will end up going on for. They have no reason to set up and plan a huge event next year if they have no idea if they can even have it at all.
By George Robbins
Plenty of films have had their release dates pushed back, with many having their dates pushed back months to accommodate for the problems plaguing theaters. In the midst of the reports saying that the virus is making a resurgence following the opening of businesses, many studios delayed their films. Most films were pushed back months in order to allow theaters the opportunity to sort out exactly how they will handle the public. They are also doing it to see if the public will actually end up going back to theaters after they are opened for awhile. Without any idea as to when they will be opened up properly, studios are finding it better just to wait longer and see than to release their films to minuscule crowds.
Many theaters have already reopened and it is becoming a pressing issue whether this will work out for them. On top of the fact many everyday people don’t want to risk the chance that they get infected after leaving the house, theaters have no movies to show. Actually, it isn’t that they have no movies to show so much as the fact they have no new movies to show. Movie theaters have their entire businesses thriving off of the fact that they have something new to show the public that they can charge for. However, most of what they have now are older films that people can watch from home through a variety of services. This has caused some movies to just be released straight to VOD, but some filmmakers are determined to keep the intended theatrical releases for their films.
Among the people who wish to have their films retain their theatrical releases is Christopher Nolan. Nolan has been pushing for his upcoming film ‘Tenet’ to maintain its original July 17th release date. He has said that he wants his film to be the first big film people will be able to go and see when theaters reopen. His hope is that his mystery movie will be enough to make people want to go back out to the movies and revive movie theaters which are suffering. It was unknown if the movie would actually end up keeping its intended original release date, and that now seems to not be the case. It appears the movie’s release date has been delayed… by two weeks.
Many studios have decided to err on the side of caution when it came to rescheduling their films’ releases, but it seems Warner Bros. will still be dropping ‘Tenet’ around the same time frame. The point of this is simply to appease Nolan who wants his film to be out there really badly. His newest movie is one that no one can glean any kind of information from regardless of what can be seen in trailers. The movie is such an enigma that even the actors have a hard time understanding what is going on in the film. The fact this movie is interesting due to fact it is a pure curiosity is the draw that Nolan is hoping will bring people through theater doors to watch it. This still doesn’t change the fact theaters are seen as dangerous and even if people pack in to see the movie, theaters are at limited capacity. Now we just have to wait and see what happens when the movie releases to theaters on July 31st.
By George Robbins
These past few months have been rough for everyone and that isn’t likely to change any time in the near future. The entertainment industry, specifically the movie industry, is having a hard time right now following the outbreak. Many studios have shifted the release schedules of their movies to reflect the current climate for movie theaters and while it may not be for many releases, some movies released straight to VOD. Even with theaters starting the process of reopening their doors to the public- with limited capacity and new health guidelines in place– they are going to have a rough time ahead of them.
Theaters currently have no public trust due to the fact they are public places with a lot of foot traffic which can cause infection to spread. This is especially relevant now that it seems the virus is hitting as a strong second wave due to businesses reopening their doors. This presents a few different dilemmas which have cropped up only within the past couple of days. Many movies that were set to release later this year such as ‘Godzilla vs. Kong‘ or the new Tom Hanks film ‘BIOS‘ have had their release dates pushed to next year. This has resulted in not many films being released this year at all, creating quite a conundrum for the Academy Awards.
The Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars, are given out every year around February to honor the best movies and the people working on them. Unfortunately, like most award ceremonies, it was unknown whether they would push back the date of the awards because of the virus. It has been officially confirmed at this point that the awards will be pushed back by eight weeks from February to April and with the extension of time comes an extension of eligibility for films. Normally there is a set date that films must be nominated by in order for them to be listed on the award nominations. Now, there will be a bigger window for movies to get on that list going into the beginning of 2021.
This is a good opportunity for movies that want to still make it into the running for the different awards presented, but many films will still not be able to make it in. There are films that were supposed to release some time within the next few months that have now been pushed back to some time next year. Many studios are hoping that by the time their films release, things could possibly go back to normal, but their is no consensus on when this might be. In the meantime, even though the eligibility period has been extended, there still may not be that many movies nominated to receive awards, even if the Academy allows movies that are streamed as well.
By George Robbins
Ever since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, plenty of public businesses have had absolutely no choice but to remain closed, until recently. Although it goes against better judgement, many businesses that have been closed have started reopening worldwide to keep economies from total collapse. Among the businesses that have had to shut down are amusement parks which receive the most amount of foot traffic when it comes to public businesses. Recently parks like Universal Orlando and Disneyland Shanghai have opened up their gates, with restrictions, to allow visitors back into their parks. There are some such as Universal Studios Hollywood and Disneyland in California that have plans to reopen in July when things start calming down a bit more.
Asia was the first place to get hit by the virus following the initial outbreak in China, so it is no surprise that they are now starting plans for reopening public places. Some businesses are struggling after they reopen, but there is hope for many others that they will be able to make up for lost time. Among the businesses that are set to reopen their gates are the aforementioned amusement parks and most recently announced for reopening is the Hong Kong Disneyland park. This park reopening is supposed to take place Thursday June 18th and the park will be doing what they can to reopen without much issue. The problem remains that they must follow the restrictions in place to allow people in the park including limited capacity.
Disney World itself isn’t set for a reopening until the middle of July, but some parks like the previously mentioned Disneyland Shanghai and a part of Disney Springs has been reopened with stormtroopers enforcing distancing. Disney has been trying their best to get their parks to open back up again amidst countless losses due to the virus. They haven’t had any of their parks opened properly for months and they have had to push back release dates for a countless amount of their movies. Other than the licensing money and toy lines that they sell, they have been losing a lot of money, especially since their parks must be maintained even when shut down so that they will be ready when the parks reopen to the public. There is no telling if the parks will stay opened moving forward, but they are certainly trying to get them up and running as soon as possible.
By George Robbins
Plenty of movies are being shuffled around nowadays due to the effects that the coronavirus is having on the movie industry. There are many films that should have been out by now that have had to change release dates in order to accommodate a full theatrical release. Many theaters have plans to reopen their doors to the public by the middle of July in order to start rebuilding customer trust in their businesses and to start earning income again. That hasn’t stopped the viability of movie theaters from coming into question as of late due to the fact things with the virus aren’t looking very good. There is a second wave of the virus hitting the populace just after the reopening of many businesses which will no doubt cause businesses to either shut down again or suffer due to lack of customers while paying maintenance costs.
This is cause for alarm for many studios who have been tentatively maneuvering their movies’ release dates to make sure they aren’t losing out. Following the announcements about the virus recently, many studios have started working on shuffling around the release dates for their films in order to have them release either late this year or some time next year. With theaters having the issues they are right now, companies don’t know what kind of climate they are getting themselves into when their films are ready to release. This is making it even more difficult for them to decide just when or even if they want to release films to theaters. Of the now many films to be moved is the new Tom Hanks Sci-fi movie ‘BIOS.’
‘BIOS‘ is an upcoming movie starring Tom Hanks that takes place on a post-human Earth that sees a man travelling with his robotic companion. Originally, the film was meant to premiere on October 2, 2020 which was established as the release date back in 2018, but has now been changed to April 16th, 2021. This film is just one on a list of films that have just had their dates moved due to the now very hazy future that theaters have looking back at them. With no idea just how many seats will be sold out as things move forward, all that can be said is that it will be awhile before we know for sure just how much trouble theaters are in and this is why movies are getting moved back so much. Hopefully this trend doesn’t go on for too much longer and things can go back to normal, but that is just unknown at this point.
By George Robbins
The DCEU is a franchise that has plenty of issues with fans of the DC universe, with many of the films in it being not up to the hopes and standards people want them to be at. Among the films on that list, and to some, the worst offender is ‘Suicide Squad.’ The movie was meant to tell a serious story about a team of villains/anti-heroes being controlled by the government to carry out covert missions. This was not the end product that we got when the film released and the story ended up being a muddled mess due to conflicting tone and a plot that wasn’t solidified. This was revealed recently by the director, David Ayer, to be because of studio interference which caused the film to be anything but the way he wanted it to be.
Of course, the overall critical failure of the first ‘Suicide Squad’ movie didn’t stop the studio from deciding to make a sequel to the first film. One of the things that people don’t pay as much attention to but is equally important is the title of the film. Nobody really expected there to be a title other than ‘Suicide Squad 2’ when it came to the naming convention of this in-the-works sequel. Thus, they eventually arrived at the not-so-impressive, but subtly different title of ‘The Suicide Squad.’ This title for the film was actually one that was eventually decided on by the studio after it was suggested by the director, James Gunn.
The upcoming film is neither a complete reboot nor is it a direct sequel and it is meant to be a standalone film and the 10th film in the DCEU. Since the film is not really meant to be a continuation of the 2016 film, it wasn’t much of a surprise to find out that the film would have a title that doesn’t sequence it in the same continuity. It is strange how they arrived at ‘The Suicide Squad,’ but according to James Gunn, he said it as a joke during a meeting and producers ended up liking the title of the film. Hopefully the film remains under the watchful eye of Gunn throughout its filming and we end up with the entertaining film that we were hoping for with the first ‘Suicide Squad.’
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