By George Robbins
The coronavirus pandemic has wrecked absolute havok on everybody’s year thus far. Whether it is an everyday person or a business, everyone has been affected by the virus in some way. For the entertainment industry, it has been especially painful because so much of what they do is based on schedules. Whether it be things like filming dates or release dates for content, companies have had no choice but to delay nearly everything. Now that there are less cases of the virus being reported, lockdowns are being loosened up for everybody.
Lockdowns being loosened up doesn’t mean all that much though because the idea of it all was to prevent new infection cases. So while they are loosened, there are still plenty of restrictions that must be adhered to by businesses and the public. There is no possible way to rush through a pandemic because there is no guaranteed way to protect against the virus other than preventing infection. With this in mind, the restrictions don’t seem all that terrible if we want to go back to enjoying our livelihoods.
Movie and television productions will have some of the worst restrictions due to how that job works, but films that are already finished are a bit luckier. Production companies with movies under their belts have had to made tough decisions regarding release dates for their films. Many movies which were supposed to release, even through the summer, have had to be pushed back. So now that most theater chains plan on reopening in the summer, companies are trying to get their release dates lined up around those re-openings.
One such company would just so happen to be Disney, and the movie they plan on releasing around that time is ‘The New Mutants.’ This movie has been in a sort of development limbo for a long time now, and just when it was getting ready to drop, the pandemic began. Disney then pulled it from the release roster and it was completely unknown just when they would decide to release the film to theaters or if they had other plans for it. Information has finally been released regarding ‘The New Mutants,’ and it appears that Disney has given the movie an August release date. As of now the film has been set for an August 28th release, and we can only hope that it stays this way moving forward from here.
By George Robbins
The world we currently live in is one that has been said multiple times recently to be “unlike any other moment in history.” This is very true considering the fact that this is the first time in the present day that the world has had to deal with a global pandemic. With the pandemic, many things started to become normalized in our daily routines such as wearing masks and gloves out in public and washing down everything that is touched on a regular basis. When things will be able to go back to how they were before, nobody knows, but people are trying to make the best of a bad situation everyday at this point.
All productions for movies and shows were forced to shut down worldwide when the pandemic was first began. Just like all other businesses that closed up at that time, film productions shut down so that they could prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. Many businesses have had no choice but to keep their doors closed during quarantine due to not being essential businesses. Film productions fit into the non-essential category, so they haven’t been able to start up again. However, now that economies are failing, non-essential businesses have been slowly allowed to start opening up again. It now seems as though some productions will also be able to start again.
However, businesses that have been allowed to reopen have to follow strict rules if they want to stay opened. These rules include keeping social distancing rules active, wearing masks and gloves, taking temperatures, and keeping all surfaces cleaned consistently. Movie and TV productions must follow a similar yet differently restrictive set of rules in order to continue filming. For instance, actors will not really be allowed to interact with one another on set even while filming, a much smaller amount of people will be allowed on set, and things like craft services will not be available. Other things are included such as no one being able to leave the filming location during breaks, but this is more of a per production thing.
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has said that the country will soon be easing on the lockdown a little bit which would allow for things like film productions to begin again. One of the films on that list happens to be DC’s newest iteration of the Batman franchise, simply titled ‘The Batman.’ Many other productions will be able to start up again as well, as long as they follow the guidelines that will be put into place by the country. As of now, the exact guidelines for film productions is unknown but will be available before the country ends up reopening to production companies.
By George Robbins
Recently, there was a rumor going around that Christopher Nolan’s new movie ‘Tenet’ would have some kind of time-travel component to it. This isn’t just some unfounded rumor since the trailer hints at some kind of time manipulation aspect to the movie. That is, of course, unless it is just a misdirection in order to keep the plot a true enigma to the audience who will end up going out and watching the film. This wouldn’t be all that surprising since it is the best way to get people interested in a movie. Not knowing what a big movie is about before going into it creates hype and that is the best type of advertisement.
Simultaneously, not knowing what a movie is about could be a detriment right now since people may not want to take the risk and leave the house for something they know nothing about. With theaters nationwide possibly reopening just before the film is meant to premiere, there is a lot of risk in going out to see the movie. That is, of course, unless the movie’s premiere date changes between now and then. The likelihood of that exact thing happening is relatively likely considering the fact nobody knows if theaters will truly reopen when they say they will, or if people will even want to go to the movies.
Going back to the title of this article, Robert Pattinson has said that despite what the trailers for the film may show, the movie does not have anything to do with time-travel. So with this in mind we must now be forced to speculate even harder about what the film’s plot will truly be about. Christopher Nolan has been very excited about his film’s upcoming release and he is hoping it will be the first big hit when theaters truly reopen in July. As of now, ‘Tenet’ has a release date for July 17th so we will see whether it will live up to his and other people’s expectations.
Movie theaters, like most businesses these days, are struggling financially due to the coronavirus pandemic. This news is not really new to anybody at this point, but the severity of it is something people may not really know about. Theaters, almost immediately after closing, had to start putting together a plan to present to congress to try and get some kind of bailout. They started losing money the moment they shut their doors and some continued paying employees for as long as they could, but they kept hemorrhaging money with no new revenue coming in whatsoever. With this in mind they had to begin furloughing and laying off employees just to stay in business until they can reopen their doors.
Some states have already started opening up public businesses with heavy restrictions, and among those businesses are theaters with even heavier restrictions. You’d think that even with those restrictions they would be able to find some way of getting their businesses back on track. Theater owners haven’t been all too lucky in that endeavor however because of a loss in consumer confidence due to people being scare to go out to a public place like that, and rightfully so. Many businesses are not following the rules the way they should and it is a problem that could cause an even bigger loss in consumer confidence.
Many theaters have opted to remain closed until most theaters nationwide can be reopened to the public. Some theater owners have made the statement that it is a nationwide business since no new movies will be shown until most theaters can open their doors to the public again. Others have also stated that without new films, they will also have nothing really worth showing to the public. Most theaters nationwide have plans to open up to the public again with restrictions some time this summer in July. The only problem is that most theaters are chain theaters, owned by a handful of parent companies, which are almost going bankrupt if the owners are to be believed.
With their fiscal situations being so bad, chain theaters such as AMC may have no choice but to be bought out by other companies. This is where industry giant Amazon is apparently coming in to play. AMC is the largest theater chain in the world with over 11,000 screens worldwide, so it would only make sense that they are the ones who are losing the most amount of money. With no way to reopen their doors before the summer, Amazon has started considering the idea of purchasing the company as a whole due to it being a potentially easy acquisition. These are just rumors for now, but expect to hear more about this in the near future with AMC possibly becoming a part of Amazon.
This year has been hectic, to put it lightly, and isn’t bound to get any better any time in the near future. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire world has been forced to go into a sort of suspended animation. Essentially, only businesses that were necessary for society to function got to stay open, as we all know. So it is nothing new when I say that due to all of this the movie industry has had quite the rough go of things. With theaters closed movies only have two options, be released digitally on demand or delay their releases.
Films that have not been finished yet have had no choice but to shut down production indefinitely until proper rules can be put in place for them to start back up again. These rules are ones that must be similar to how public places are set up now, but they must have extra rules in place since filming usually involves contact. Rules such as distancing, wearing proper protection, and cleaning all recently touched surfaces must be followed in order to restart production. These are the rules currently in place for theaters to be able to re-open in certain states.
Most states still have yet to re-open any movie theaters, and those that have allowed their re-opening aren’t seeing much success as people are worried about going out. These people are rightfully worried and it will be awhile before it becomes safe enough that they won’t be so worried and will go out to the movies. Theater chains such as AMC or Cinemark know this and have decided to reopen in the summer months like July when most states will allow them to reopen. Production companies know that by having one of the first film slots for when theaters reopen and people feel comfortable going back to them, it will help them and the theaters tremendously.
While Disney has had to delay many releases due to the pandemic, they have been keeping their eyes on releases that are close to the theater reopening dates. One such movie that they have slated for release in July, when most theaters are supposed to reopen, is the live-action remake of ‘Mulan.’ Following the story of the mythical figure who took her father’s place in the army to protect China from the Hun invaders, ‘Mulan’ is a more realistic interpretation of the original story. Disney CEO Bob Chapek strongly believes that the film will be able to keep its newest release date of July 24th. With the pandemic being a fluid situation that can change at any time, many believe that this might be cutting it too close and even if it does keep that date there is no telling if people will go out and see the film.
Christopher Nolan has been known to make some pretty well received movies and his new film may do just as well. The only thing is that he has not revealed any details that talk about any plot points for the film. Released to the public was a couple of cryptic trailers that show us a man, a shadowy organization, and a mission that is of life or death importance. So it is no wonder that any new information on the film will be info that will gladly be received by those who want to see the movie. The only thing now is exactly how interesting will the movie end up being.
Christopher Nolan still refuses to give any plot details, but behind the scenes information gives a good idea as to what kind of film it will be. It seems as though it is a quantum cold war thriller that sees agents trying their best to prevent a war. Which essentially boils down to it being a film about secret agents who can time travel trying to prevent some worldwide disaster. Most of this can be gleaned from the trailer for the movie, but it’s nice to know that this is actually what the movie is about. Otherwise Warner Bros. has done a very good job of keeping details of the movie secret.
‘Tenet’ is on the schedule of releases as the next big feature film that is set to release in theaters. As of now, the film has a release date for July 17th, but Warner Bros. may make the decision to delay the films release until theaters are able to go back to being completely in business. Nolan himself has been trying to keep this release date on the board for as long as possible. He believes that his film will be the movie that tempts people into going back out to theaters when they are able to re-open their doors. Maybe this is true, but with how the pandemic is going and how theaters handle anything that comes up could change the release of the film entirely.
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