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.
Recently, and for a good chunk of the foreseeable future, we are pretty much all stuck indoors. As such, we must find ways to entertain ourselves; with a large majority of our time, we spend it on streaming services. Eventually, some people are going to get bored with some of the shows or movies that are on those services and will want something new. If that ends up being the case, and you like teen drama, then Amazon has a movie coming soon. This movie is ‘Selah and the Spades.’
The movie focuses primarily on the titular character and her control of the most dominant faction in her school’s student body, the Spades. In the closed world of an elite Pennsylvania boarding school, Selah is a 17-year-old girl in charge of the faction that supplies students with illegal alcohol and pills. Selah takes on a protégée, sophomore Paloma, when the school’s factions are at odds with one another and her best friend/right hand, Maxxie is distracted by love. Selah, however, discovers just how intoxicating having so much power really is with graduation coming up quickly and her ward learning exceptionally quickly.
‘Selah and the Spades’ stars Lovie Simone, Celeste O’Connor, Jharrel Jerome with Jesse Williams and Gina Torres. The movie was written and directed by Tayarisha Poe with a wholly unique story. The movie was produced by Lauren McBride, Drew Houpt and Lucas Joaquin. ‘Selah and the Spades’ is being distributed through Amazon Studios and will be available through Amazon Prime Video streaming services on April 17th of this year with no delay.
We are now going into April and with that, one year ago the biggest blockbuster of all time released. Avengers: Endgame was a film which was built up to for years with the remainder of the the MCU being the stepping stones to reach that point. As such, with the one year anniversary coming up, I thought that some facts about the film might be interesting and maybe you don’t know these facts.
- Robert Downey Jr. was really the beginning and the end of the saga and as such, he was the only cast member to receive a full copy of the script for Endgame.
- Endgame was a massive project that was shot on the heels of Infinity War, but did you know Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly shot Ant-Man and the Wasp at the same time. Also Brie Larson shot her scenes before she started Captain Marvel.
- Avengers: Endgame actually broke ticket reservation websites like Fandango due to the sheer number of pre-sale tickets being bought. After six hours, it managed to become the biggest pre-sale title ever with some theaters adding extra shows in order to accommodate viewers.
- One of the cuter lines in the films is when Tony Stark’s daughter says “I love you 3000.” This made it into the movie when Robert Downey Jr. told the Russo brothers what one of his own children had said to him.
- This one is a twofer with both Endgame and Infinity War; they were both shot on IMAX cameras, making them the first films to ever be shot entirely on IMAX cameras.
- Captain America has always been able to wield Thor’s hammer according to director Anthony Russo. The reason that he didn’t pick it up in Age of Ultron was because he didn’t want to hurt Thor’s ego.
- Some people may have noticed at the end of the film, there was a teenage boy at Tony’s funeral. That teen was Harley Keener, the one who let Tony use his shed when he needed to repair the Iron Man suit in the third Iron Man film.
- For those who may remember, Age of Ultron showed a vision of the future in which the Avengers have fallen and Cap’s shield was shattered. That prophecy ended up being fulfilled in Endgame with Hulk too injured to fight, Thor nearly being killed by Thanos, Natasha lying dead the same way as the vision, and Thanos breaking Cap’s shield.
- Anthony Mackie found out about the ending of his character, Falcon, in Endgame at Chris Evans’ house when Chris told him the fate of his character and showed him that part of the script.
- Some other easter eggs in the film include Scott Lang’s storage unit number being 616, the number used for the main universe in the comic series. Hawkeye testing the particles for time travel is a nod to his being the character Goliath in the comics who grew with Pym Particles. Then we have the song “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath being fulfilled “when he traveled time, for the future of mankind.”
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