Dont Tell NetflixDont Tell Netflix

By George Robbins

Nowadays, the world can be a pretty rough place for just about everybody and it affects everyone differently. The “it” in this case is the coronavirus pandemic currently plaguing the world. Countless businesses have been affected in entirely different ways simply because people can’t be near one another. While some businesses can cope with this situation, there are many, namely in the entertainment industry, that cannot. With movie theaters shut down movies studios have had no choice but to delay their film productions and theatrical releases. Now, the game they must play is when they should release their movies.

There are currently a couple of movies that are vying for the position of first release blockbuster once theaters begin reopening their doors. Theaters, mainly the chains, plan on reopening by some time in July due to the fact that they must adhere to health and safety rules in order to do so. So studios have been working their film release schedules around this time period in order to make their films sell out seats in theaters to make their money back. There is still the major issue of consumer confidence that people need to worry about, since no one will really want to leave their houses immediately after theaters reopen, save for a few people. The question then becomes, “Will the movies that are showing be worth the risk?”

Solstice Studios is definitely trying to answer that question by putting their newest movie out into theaters when they start reopening. Their movie, ‘Unhinged,’ is a upcoming thriller film which stars Russell Crowe in a main role. He plays a character who has a fit of road rage involving a woman he only just met which sets off a deadly game of cat and mouse. The woman is played by Caren Pistorius and the film also stars Jimmi Simpson and Gabriel Bateman. This movie tells a story about the consequences of a seemingly inconsequential action due to something done at the wrong place and time.

Solstice originally had the movie planned as a September release, but they are now trying to be a part of the crowd of studios trying to be first in theaters. Most theaters should be reopened by the beginning of July, and they are trying to take advantage of that fact by making the release date the 1st of July. This is dangerous since not only must they compete with other big movies trying to accomplish the same task, but also the fact that people simply might not want to go to the movies. This is the risk that all of the studios are taking by making their films available in theaters the month that most will be reopening. Simultaneously, they may be a part of the group that helped get people out to the movies in the first place, so it is a wait-and-see scenario.