Despite the ongoing threat of the coronavirus pandemic, states have started re-opening businesses in an attempt to help the economy. It is also a way to get people out of their homes, since it is driving people a little stir-crazy. While some businesses might be opening up again, it is still a very dangerous time for everyone since all it takes is a couple of people getting careless and the number of new cases will spike again. With that in mind business owners have to follow specific rules in order to be allowed to open again. This is the only way that things are going to work out the way that people want them to.
There are a lot of health checks in place in order for people to go back to the businesses they frequented. It also allows businesses the opportunity to keep good faith with the people that always frequent their establishments. If people found out that a business was a source of new infection cases, then a lot less people would want to go to that place in the future. These health checkpoints ensure that people can go in places, and also so that people who are infected will be identified. In a way, the business re-openings can be useful, but if there is even a small lapse in security then things will get worse.
A few things to keep in mind for people going through the checkpoints is that they will be asking questions, taking temperatures, and some places have airport-style security in place. Among the businesses that have re-opened in some states, movie theaters have some additional restrictions due to seating. Theaters have been forced to continue the social distancing plans while having tape in place in order to guide foot-traffic. Also adding to this is, theaters must also wipe down everything after a showing is finished. All of these things are what is in place if you want to go out to theaters in places they are re-opened.
Movie theaters were one of the first set of businesses to shut down in mid-March after the announcement of the pandemic. They were very quickly forced to ask for financial aid after all of this began due to their loss of revenue and they had to furlough most employees. Chain theaters such as AMC and Regal are choosing to remain closed until things settle down a bit. The chains have a plan that has them re-opening in mid- to late-June and mid-July to help account for all that is going on in the country. Even then, they will most likely have to follow the health check rules in place now, since this pandemic doesn’t seem like it will end soon.
Theaters are having a rough go of things during this pandemic, just like many other entertainment businesses. Movie theaters have done their best to accommodate to the way that the world currently is and how the pandemic is affecting people. Of course, this means that they are stuck closed for a time, and even when they re-open they must do so with restrictions. China will be able to re-open its theaters nation-wide much sooner than here in the U.S., but they also closed before ours did. With this in mind, they are a guiding post as to how things here will go when we re-open our theaters as well.
When theaters do re-open, they will have restrictions on them for the sake of avoiding a massive public health crisis that can be worse than we already have. With those restrictions, money will, of course, be lost since not every seat will be able to be filled. As such, less people filling seats equals less concessions being sold to the public at large. This, in turn means that theaters will be losing a lot of money, even after they re-open their doors to the public. China, having a lot more people in it, is going to lose a lot more than the stateside counterpart would.
With the Covid-19 virus originating in China, and as a result, 70,000 screens shut down, the theater industry there took a massive hit to the coin purse. Even worse for the industry over there, they were forced to shut down around Chinese New Year. For theaters there, Chinese New Year is an insanely lucrative time of year for theatrical releases and it is when most theaters make their money. As such, that time period is one that usually has many blockbusters slotted to play, but they all had to be put on hold. Release schedules had to be moved around and films had to be postponed which means that theaters in China are now in a massive hole.
In march, some 600-700 theaters re-opened in China, but due to low visitation numbers and amid concerns of the virus possibly spreading again, they shut down after one weekend. There is no telling quite how long theaters will be shut down for and how many people will go when they re-open. Consumer confidence is a huge part of bringing people in, and health and safety concerns is a massive reason that could keep people away from theaters even longer. This is something all theaters have to deal with worldwide and even when they re-open they will still be in trouble. Now, it is estimated that it will result in a $4 billion net loss at the box office in China compared to last years $9 billion profit.
May 4th is something that is essentially considered a holiday now for many Star Wars fans all over. This year, May the 4th is an event that many cannot celebrate due to the coronavirus pandemic. At least, a massive celebration cannot be held for the event. What this means is that the yearly gathering of Star Wars fans unfortunately cannot happen, at least not the way that it usually does. This is one of those moments where the internet really comes in handy and it shines through the most.
The May the 4th convention will still be held for the public this year, but it will be a virtual convention. Virtual conventions have been around for awhile now, but there has usually been some kind of physical aspect to the convention. Now, Star Wars fans will be getting an entirely online convention so that they don’t miss out on both the 4th and the aptly named Revenge of the 5th. This event is one that seems fitting considering the fact that the final film in the new trilogy came out just at the end of the previous year. With that in mind, there is plenty for Star Wars fans to talk about regarding the past, present, and future of the franchise.
Even though ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ was the last film in the newest trilogy, Disney is far from finished with the franchise. In fact, it is more likely that they are only just beginning since they can now do whatever they want with regards to the universe. They can work with any part of the universe that they want which can give them the freedom to create entirely new storylines that Star Wars fans can try and predict. That is what the convention is about; talking about the stories that we already have, and the possible stories that can be told in the future. This is important to Star Wars fans as it gives them an opportunity to discuss something they love with other people that feel the same way.
Star Wars is one of the largest franchises there is and with that it has one of the largest fan-bases out there. Luckily, since the world has become much more live content oriented, there are plenty of platforms for people to go to for content. The plans for the convention involve Live Tweet sessions revolving around major films from the franchise, Facebook live discussions content, and YouTube Livestreams. Countless comic con accounts will be a part of the two day online event and will be the accounts behind the live discussion events. With so many events lined up for people to go and be a part of, it seems that this convention will still be an excellent time for all Star Wars fans.
There are plenty of companies and groups that have had to make compromises when it came to adapting to the world’s quarantine. Some studios adjusted to this fact by forgoing theatrical releases entirely. The result of which was the fact that they instead ended up releasing them to VOD. With plans to release other films to VOD, there are not as many films that will see theatrical releases this year. So with less films in theaters, there was a concern that there would not be as many options to pick from during the academy awards season next year. Seeing as how this pandemic may be going for awhile, it is understandable that this may be a concern for some.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences made the decision that they would allow films to be nominated even if they forgo theatrical releases. This shouldn’t be much of a surprise since, not only is the world complicated right now, but streaming is becoming a large part of the industry. Independent films are becoming a larger part of the industry via streaming services and they are deserving of the awards. To show that to some degree, some actors and actresses as well as some films themselves ended up nominated this past year despite mostly being streamed films.
In order for the more award inclined films to be nominated for any kind of awards, they had to have some kind of theatrical showing first. So, while films were nominated that had mostly been streamed, at some point they had to have some kind of theatrical showing. In order to make things fair for films that are simply trying their best during uncertain times, The Academy decided that no matter what, films could be nominated. This could be a change for the industry as a whole, or this could be a one-off scenario that we’ll almost certainly never see again. If it is a change for the industry, then it is one being fought in multiple ways right now.
Theater companies, and more specifically AMC and Regal, have decided to go against Universal Studios. This comes from the fact that Universal wants to put a lot more effort into releasing films straight to VOD, while also giving films theatrical releases. Needless to say, the theater chains are not happy with this turn of events and have decided not to show Universal films when they finally do re-open. Universal is currently doing what others have been deciding on in order to keep their schedules from jamming and to ensure that they can get their films out on time. The industry is being heavily affected by the virus and some of these changes just might be permanent, but there is no way of telling until theaters re-open properly.
Recently, AMC decided that they would no longer show any Universal films following a comment from Universal about VOD releases. Universal felt that, for now, it would be much easier to release their films on VOD than to wait for theatrical releases to be available again. Even when theaters re-open, they have said they will go back to theatrical releases, but will also release straight to VOD. Universal has said that the straight to VOD model has been something they have been considering since 2011, but have only been able to try recently due to the pandemic. Now that it is working out for them at least to some degree, they want to change up the formula, possibly permanently.
Universal has reported that their first direct to digital title, ‘Trolls: World Tour,’ did better in three weeks since its release than the first film did over months in theaters. Of course, this can be attributed to a number of different factors such as it being a sequel that people are more aware of and a lot of people are now stuck at home with nothing to do. The latter being a pretty big part of why they are bringing in revenue. However, what will happen when theaters re-open in the following months? This is why Universal decided it would eventually, and simultaneously, release films on both VOD and in theaters.
This got on the nerves of AMC’s CEO Adam Aron, who has said that when it is safe to re-open theaters to the public, AMC will no longer show films by Universal. Universal, of course, has come up with a response to AMC regarding this sudden plan for them to no longer show their films. In their response, they say that their reason for releasing movies straight to VOD is to give the people who are stuck at home something to keep themselves entertained since they can’t go out anywhere. Since the response to that release was one of enthusiasm, they believe that they made the right move.
“Our desire has always been to efficiently deliver entertainment to as wide an audience as possible.” This sentiment is what Universal essentially means in their response, and they even reiterate the fact that they still believe in theatrical releases. They say that, on the contrary, theatrical releases are important to a film, but they simply want to change things up a little by also releasing movies straight to VOD. They only plan on releasing them straight to VOD when that outlet makes sense as well, not every single time. Universal also says that it is going to be having additional discussions with exhibition partners and is upset by AMC and NATO’s attempt to confuse their position. What will happen next between the companies is unknown, but if things are left unchanged, Universal will have less theaters to show its films in.
Ever since the middle of March, the entertainment industry has essentially had to deal with the fact that they have been shut down. The film industry in particular have had a pretty rough go of things considering all of their schedules have been messed up. Production companies have had to make do with moving release dates back, moving productions back, and releasing movies straight to VOD. Universal, in particular, has found success with straight to VOD in their release of ‘Trolls: World Tour.’ The movie managed to to better than its predecessor when it came to revenue with just VOD, so Universal was comfortable with saying that they plan on releasing more films straight to VOD in the future.
NBCUniversal’s CEO made comments saying that the company would continue to release films this way and it did not go over so well. AMC Theaters, one of the largest theater chains in the country, announced they would no longer show Universal’s films. Universal was the first studio to decide against delaying their release schedules in order to try and make money at a time when it would otherwise be impossible. As of now it is working for them and they made more than they were expecting to. With theaters shut down nationally for the next few months it would make sense that they would continue to do this with other films as well.
You can’t necessarily blame them for wanting to do this, especially since they receive 80% of the revenue from VOD instead of the usual 50% from theatrical releases. They also don’t want to have to push back their own releases and mess up their own schedules. This ends up creating an issue for the theater companies since they are now missing out on all potential future revenue from those films. The decision to release films to VOD directly is also a product of the situation we are all currently in and probably won’t work so well when everything is back to the way it was.
NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell announced that, in the future, Universal will continue to release films theatrically, and they will also be sending films straight to on-demand. They recently announced that they will be sending Pete Davidson and Judd Apatow’s ‘The King of Staten Island’ straight to VOD in June instead of a theatrical release. AMC CEO and President Adam Aron has said that due to this strategy, they will no longer show Universal’s films. He also said that any other studio that says that they are going to forgo any theatrical releases will also be treated the same way.
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