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.
As we know by now, the economy is in a terrible downward turn, but we are also in the middle of a terrible health crisis. With that in mind, states are working on their plans for re-opening business in order to try and kick-start the economy again. California’s plans for re-opening businesses is currently a four step plan that involves slowly re-opening the economy. The reason for it is the safety of the citizens of the state, which is what all states should be doing. Georgia re-opened all businesses with restrictions, but that doesn’t change the fact that the virus can still spread. With their re-opening businesses, other states are relaxing rules as well with Texas planning to re-open theaters this weekend.
California governor Gavin Newsom has said that it will be months before movie theaters re-open due to the coronavirus. With theaters being among the first facilities to close it isn’t much of a surprise that they will be among the last to open again. After all, it is a place that packs a bunch of people together into a small space. The state will be working towards re-opening them in a way that will be safe to the public at large. While theaters might be opening in other states, they are still going to be closed on a national level to a strong degree.
Newsom has explained that the state of California has a 4-step plan in place to re-open businesses state-wide. In that 4-step plan, theaters opening back up again is in the third step overall. There are still plans in the works to figure out how to properly go about opening businesses in a way that will keep new cases from spiking again. For now, California is one of the top 5 states with cases of the coronavirus, and considering the population size, that isn’t much of a surprise. The California state government will be doing what it can for both its businesses and its citizens in order to keep things moving.
Regardless of what other states are doing, Newsom refuses to lift any of the stay-at-home restrictions that were put in place. He has said that the plan to re-open businesses is one that will take not weeks, but months. Stage three is the part of the plan that not only includes re-opening theaters, but also the re-opening of hair salons, nail salons, gyms, and churches with restrictions. Among the things to be re-opened would be sporting events, but they will not have spectators. So it is clear that safety is one of the first things in mind when it comes to re-opening plans and it is the same type of plan that other states should also be trying to implement.
Movies are having all sorts of delays due to this pandemic, and we knew that these sorts of things were just going to keep happening. As time went on, we heard more and more news about production companies pushing theatrical releases for their films. On top of that all productions that were meant to start on films were halted as well. Now we have to contend with the fact that movies that are a part of a series of films will be affected as well. We have already heard about this with the ‘Shazam’ sequel being pushed back with ‘Black Adam.’ Now the MCU is being affected by delays in production.
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is meant to be the fourth standalone film for the character and was meant to release in 2021. With a list of delays for films and productions which is growing to be a mile long, it is no surprise that the film has been delayed to 2022. Marvel’s ‘Black Widow’ was set to be released on April 24th, 2020, but ended up being pushed back to November 2020 due to theatrical shutdowns. This, of course, complicates the entire scheduled line-up that Disney had planned for their MCU films. In turn, this pushed back production of the next Thor film and its release date.
The movie being pushed back isn’t a bad thing though, because director Taika Waititi has said that it gives him time to work on making the script better. Waititi was the man behind ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ a movie that was wildly successful compared to its two previous predecessors. Returning to the film alongside Chris Hemsworth is Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) and Natalie Portman (Jane Foster). It has also been announced that Christian Bale will serve as an unspecified villain in the movie and Waititi currently refuses to say who it will be. All we know now is that Waititi is directing and co-writing the film and he will be spending his quarantine working on the script even more.
As of now, any and all rumors about ‘Love and Thunder’ are currently being downplayed by Waititi in order to make everything about the film a surprise. The film was originally slated for a November 2021 release, but was moved to a new release on February 11, 2022. It is unclear exactly when filming for the movie was supposed to start, but star Chris Hemsworth confirmed recently that is was most definitely on hold. So now that the film has been put on hold, we don’t really have much of a choice other than to see this as an opportunity to get an even better film.
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