Despite it being a very bad idea, Governor Kemp of Georgia will be allowing restaurants and theaters to re-open in Georgia next week. Restaurants, bars, theaters, etc. were among the first places to shut down at the beginning of this pandemic. The reason for this being that it was to keep more people from becoming infected with the virus. However, now that the number of new infected cases is decreasing, people are starting to think that things should re-open. That is not how a pandemic works, and this could only end up causing more damage than before via a boomerang effect. Essentially, this means that people start going outside again and that drop in the curve will then switch right back around and will skyrocket causing an even worse situation than we are already in.
As of April 27th, Georgia will allow the re-opening of these establishments among these fears in order to help businesses. This just begs us to ask the question, however, is it worth the risk of allowing the chance for the infection to proliferate again. I think that while unemployment is high and businesses are suffering, taking a gung-ho to re-opening these businesses will just cause more suffering for everybody. This virus is very serious and in the past month alone there have been over 800,000 reported cases and 42,000 cases suspected to be linked to the disease. There is a good chance that there are even more cases out there that are unreported as well.
Covid-19 is now deadlier than the flu when it comes to mortality rate and it proliferates far more easily than at this point in time. With that knowledge, it should be pretty easy to tell that having a spike in cases will only end up making all of this worse. They are going to be rolling out re-openings one type of establishment at a time, but the problem remains that the amount of time it takes for symptoms to appear will make that all a moot point. There is still no guaranteed way to deal with the virus and that makes it even more dangerous to people at large. As it is a virus, it can mutate into however many different strains which can infect even more people and there is no telling if people can be reinfected or not yet.
While we might not be able to tell what will happen if businesses in Georgia re-open, we can make a guess given the information that is available to us. How many more lives are we willing to bet with and is it even worth it in the long run? We will receive answers to these questions whether we want them or not when Georgian businesses re-open. If things look like they are going well, you can bet that other states will also start to do the same, but you should always be cautious. Even if things look like they are going well, take your time to observe and don’t try to openly participate until you know for sure that you are safe. Don’t rush into things like most people probably will and keep yourself and your loved ones healthy.
‘Mallrats’ is a 1995 classic comedy film that shows us a serious day in the lives of two slackers after they break up with their girlfriends. What follows is a day full of situations most people wouldn’t expect from a day at the mall. From window shopping to meeting Stan Lee up to competing on a dating game show, friends T.S. and Brodie encounter friends and enemies that change their lives. Assisting them on their mallrat “adventure” are Jay and Silent Bob who make their reappearance from the ‘Clerks’ movie. This one day completely changes the way that their lives turn out, and the film is pretty funny too.
Recently, director of the first film, Kevin Smith, has stated that with the Covid-19 pandemic happening he has had time to work on a script for the film’s sequel. Smith has said that this possible film in the making will cover modern issues, and more specifically issues created by the pandemic. One of the big topics he mentioned will be covered by the script is the massive unemployment numbers that we are now looking at due to the virus. He said that events which are currently unfolding in the world are shaping the way that the story plays out, because the affects that the coronavirus is having on the world will be long-lasting and most likely permanent.
The coronavirus pandemic will go down in human history as an event that will and should be remembered for ages to come. Smith wants to reflect that in his movie because, “Nobody’s forgetting about this. Everything we do from here on in in the arts that reflects life is going to include this time in our history. It’s not like you can ignore it or something like that.” With this in mind, ‘Twilight of the Mallrats’ will do what it can to show the world as it is now and will provide people now and in the future a glimpse of the current world. The script for the film is getting closer to being finished with about 20 pages left according to Smith himself.
As of now, the upcoming draft of the film has managed to catch the attention of actors Bruce Campbell and Michael Rooker, with Campbell and Smith hashing out a deal over twitter posts. There is no telling what part he could end up playing in the film since is is currently only a screenplay in progress. The actors for his films usually put their all into their parts, so it will be entertaining to see how he portrays whichever character he gets cast to play. With everything in mind, the first ‘Mallrats’ film didn’t do well at first but become a cult classic that helped put Smith on the directorial map. Hopefully this film becomes as big as we hope it will be and will go back to comedic yet real scenarios that will entertain an entirely new generation.
It is of no surprise to anyone in the world at this point that the entertainment industry is suffering very hard due to the Covid-19 outbreak. With the outbreak, we gained phrases like “flatten the curve” and social distancing, which is just a shorter way of saying stay away from other people to keep the number of new infected down. So in an effort to help with that effort, and before the government shut them down by force, theaters closed their doors along with other establishments like restaurants and bars. Theaters were not the only part of the industry hit as most people well know by now with movie productions shut down as well.
So, with movie theaters and all film production shut down for the foreseeable future, it is of course only natural that movies would be delayed. Some studios decided to wait longer and see just how all of this would turn out, and some decided to delay their movies sooner. Those that did it sooner, did it because they knew they would have to reschedule to a new release slot and took the risk. That plan made sense and now most films are delayed for upwards of 5 months to a year. Unfortunately, there is no telling how long this outbreak will last though, so now movies that are scheduled for June releases are being delayed.
Movies like No Time to Die, Black Widow, and Fast & Furious 9 were big titles among the May releases that ended up getting pushed back due to the outbreak. May is now an almost completely clean slate, with almost nothing set to premiere in a month with one of the craziest holiday weekends of the year. Now, as things seem to be spiraling out a bit more than anticipated, studios are delaying June film releases as well. Among the first to announce a delay was Warner Bros. who are delaying In the Heights and Wonder Woman 1984 and are eyeing an August 14th release date hopefully. Following their announcement of their movie delays, Paramount announced that Top Gun: Maverick would also be receiving a delayed release.
Top Gun: Maverick is the upcoming sequel to the original Top Gun film which sees the return of the titular “Maverick” as he trains a new class of ace pilots. The new date set for the release of the film is December 23rd in order to give it a good release window. On top of Paramount’s delay for that film, they additionally slated A Quiet Place Part II for a September release following its delistment as a March theatrical title. The push for the former film to be released in December should, in the end, benefit the movie since the end of the month is like a 2 week vacation for many. Following the end of the pandemic, the movie might just be one of the biggest releases out there and this appeal can only help. Be on the lookout for other news about additional delays.
It is no surprise that movies are having delays in the production departments and the release departments. Both of these delays lead to an even bigger problem which is when does it become possible for delayed movies to be released? That is the current big button issue with a lot of different production companies at the moment. There are companies which have managed to find secondary dates for their releases by using time slots for future films. For some companies, however, this is not so simple.
Sequel movies have managed to been slotted into new release spots where another sequel would go. For example, Fast and Furious 9 is supposedly being moved into the spot where the tenth movie would go. Other companies just aren’t so lucky and have to work hard just to find spots that aren’t too far out. They also need to make sure that the movie is released at a certain time of year in order to drive traffic to go and see the films. Disney is actually having this issue right now.
Disney is still trying to figure out exactly when they will be able to release their movies Mulan and Black Widow. This could have adverse affects on their entire future line-up with release dates being pushed back. With that being said, other companies have had to push back release dates far longer than anticipate. Universal pushed back the Minions: Rise of Gru movie to July of 2021 and Sing 2, which was supposed to release in July of 2021, is being pushed to December of 2021.
These are the issues that the movie industry is currently facing, with many unsure as to what exactly they are doing. Some companies will have to play this pandemic day by day until it ends in order to get a date that isn’t part of a terrible release window. Others have to move around which movies are released on which dates and therefore which movies must be inevitably pushed back. So now we will just have to see when these studios are going to actually play the movies they have been working on and when they will restart productions on other planned films.
Just like the title of this article I am posing the question, “Will movies ever be normal again?” More specifically I am talking about the movie-going experience as a whole. Public venues have all been closed down for a couple of weeks now, and they will continue to be closed for an indeterminate amount of time. For the movie industry as a whole this presents a massive issue since studios cannot make the money they normally would on a film if it went through its full release cycle. Theaters were in trouble because getting people in seats to see movies is how they remain opened. However, the Senate recently passed a federal aiod act to help theaters and their employees to bounce back.
Although theaters may end up getting the aid they need to bounce back, things are changing. At the very least they feel as though they are changing because of all of the movies that have been forced to release early on digital to recoup costs. It is hard to get exact numbers as to how many people are watching movies using VOD, but since everyone is at home, it is safe to say a lot. People are being spoiled by the fact that they don’t have to wait and can just watch the movies at home. Those people think that even when theaters reopen, they will be able to get new releases immediately like they are now.
This way of thinking could actually become a problem for theaters, as people would, more than likely, want to stay home in order to watch movies. Theaters are needed as a part of the entertainment industry to give companies a gauge on how their films will sell once they have their full release. Of course theatrical releases also mean extra money for not only the filmmakers, but the theaters themselves. Even with this in mind, people are starting to think less about going out to see movies and this could definitely damage the industry irreparably.
The general public at large will not want to really go to the movies anymore to see something they would rather watch at home. This mentality could end up resulting in an opposite effect than what theaters originally hoped for. Theater owners believe that when it is time to reopen, they will be able to get back to where they were. With things the way they are and people wanting them to stay that way, there is no guarantee that movie theaters will ever be the way they were again and they will go on the decline.
During this Covid-19 outbreak, many theatrical releases were forced to release early on digital VOD, or video on-demand, in order to recoup costs. One of the first films to be announced for an early digital release was ‘Bloodshot’ by Sony Pictures. At the time of the announcement, the film had only been in theaters for a total of 11 days. The week that the government announced by plans for distancing and isolation, movie theaters shut down entirely with only a few rare theaters remaining opened. So, in an effort to make at least some of the money back, companies started their plans to make the films they had available on digital.
Within the week that everything had started to shut down, Sony managed to get their newest film out to the public. It was not the way they would have liked it, but it gave them a chance for the movie to do well since people would have more time on their hands. Attendance for theatrical releases were in decline and there were many movies that released or were going to release around that time. ‘Bloodshot’ did not really have much of a chance left outside of their release of it, so they made it one of the first available new releases on VOD.
The premise of ‘Bloodshot’ is that a former soldier is killed in action and is then brought back to life by the RST corporation. That man, Ray Garrison, now has nanotechnology flooding through his veins which gives him unbelievable strength and the ability to heal instantly. The only problem with this is the fact that RST has full control of the nanites and, therefore, his body, mind, and memories. So when Ray finds out, he makes it his mission to find out exactly what is real and what isn’t real. What he might find could lead him down a path that he really can’t come back from.
After being added while a week was already in progress, ‘Bloodshot’ managed to make its way onto the 3rd top spot on FandangoNOW. For those unaware, FandangoNOW is a lead streaming service with over 100,000 titles available for viewing. It did so well, in fact, that it managed to beat out ‘Birds of Prey’ which took the fourth slot. What is most amazing about the movie is the fact that not even a full week had passed since its release and yet it it made it near the top of the list. There is no telling whether this will last or if people will even want to watch it, so we just have to watch out and see for ourselves.
For those who are interested in comic book movies, this is most certainly one to go and rent on digital. The series it was adapted from of the same name was a popular comic series. The comic book series started in 1992 with a number of volumes being released and, over time, relaunched in order to revitalize the character. ‘Bloodshot’ the movie was adapted directly from the comics and their storylines. This gives a little more weight towards it being an hero action comic movie.
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