Movies & Cinema during the Pandemic? Catch-all Discussion (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

Sony

The Croods is a DreamWorks property.

But, yes.

I liked the first Croods film when I saw it in theaters in 2013, but that was a very long time ago indeed, especially for a family film. I think they might have missed their window on this one, even without the pandemic. Frozen took six years between installments, but that movie had a much larger cultural footprint and never really left the public consciousness. The Croods did well for itself, but simply not to that degree. I suspect a lot of people may have forgotten about it. So even prior to the pandemic, I wouldn't have necessarily bet on it being a big draw. Now, there's no way families are going to want to take kids to a movie theater in large numbers. That's why I expected they would do the same PVOD model as with Trolls and see what they got.

I would probably go to the sequel in a normal situation, but it is not one that I will be terribly upset to miss.

Deadline has another article about the problems facing studios and exhibitors right now:

What Studios & Exhibition Seriously Need To Do Right Now To Save Moviegoing After Release Date Fallout & ‘Tenet’

What’s going on right now at the box office and with theaters goes far beyond the muted $30M domestic results of Tenet. This isn’t a death knell piece for exhibition, nor is this more r…

deadline.com

 

[TravisR]

The Croods is a DreamWorks property.

But, yes.

Oops, Universal. Moving the date forward means Universal gets it in theaters to make money at Thanksgiving and also have it PVOD before Christmas. It doesn't matter that no other chain than AMC has agreed to that deal because the theaters are completely at the mercy of the studios now so they'll have to go with it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Hell has frozen over.

I hate that I am saying this because I have been a staunch defender of the theatrical window for years. I still think it is essential to their survival after the pandemic. But right now I think the best course of action for all the theater chains is to allow the 90-day window to disappear for the duration of the pandemic.

There is no way that I will go out to the movies before a vaccine is widely available. But I would pay for big titles like Wonder Woman or Soul in home. If the 90-day window is still in place, the theaters will just keep delaying their films, which would leave the exhibitors with nothing significant to play. At least if they let the studios go day-and-date in homes, they would have something to play. Of course, availability elsewhere would make the crowds smaller in the theater, but at this point I'm not sure they have much to lose because the crowds at the theaters appear to be relatively minuscule anyway.

As it is right now, the next major studio release is Death On the Nile 37 days from now. As much as Warner Bros. wants Tenet to have legs, there's just no way that it is going to sustain the theaters for that long on its own. They need new product, and the only way to get the studios to agree to give it to them now is if it can also be exploited in homes.

It's their choice.

 

[jcroy]

Hell has frozen over.

I hate that I am saying this because I have been a staunch defender of the theatrical window for years. I still think it is essential to their survival after the pandemic. But right now I think the best course of action for all the theater chains is to allow the 90-day window to disappear for the duration of the pandemic.

I suspect what will happen is the theater chain C-level suite executives will defend it until the very day of bankruptcy. Once they lose the "leverage" of that window agreement, it is gone forever.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I suspect what will happen is the theater chain C-level suite executives will defend it until the very day of bankruptcy.

I am inclined to agree with this, but at this point they might be going bankrupt anyway. They need to figure out something because what's going on right now with the grosses the way they are in North America simply is not sustainable. So it might be time for some radical thinking, unless they want to go bankrupt.

A local black box theatre (live theatre, not movie theater) is proceeding with their previously announced season of shows. Actors are masked, silent, and essentially miming to a pre-recorded soundtrack of all the play's dialogue and sound effects. Capacity is capped at 48 people (instead of the 170 they normally perform to) and a streaming video option is provided for those patrons who don't feel comfortable returning to the theatre yet.

This clearly isn't the way they wanted to produce shows this year. It isn't how I wanted to see them, either. (I am taking the video option.). But it's going to help them keep the lights on until COVID is over and they can resume normal theatrical practices so that they are still here when this is all over. It's not ideal, but it is creative out-of-the-box thinking.

Movie theaters need to do the same thing.

 

[Wayne_j]

the drive in closest to me seems to be black this weekend so I will be going to one a little further to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Nice! That’s a great double feature idea!

 

[Wayne_j]

The Metropolitan Opera will be closed until at least Fall 2021.

The Metropolitan Opera won't reopen until September 2021

The latest Speed Read,/speed-reads,,speed-reads, breaking news, comment, reviews and features from the experts at The Week

theweek.com

 

[bujaki]

The Metropolitan Opera will be closed until at least Fall 2021.

The Metropolitan Opera won't reopen until September 2021

The latest Speed Read,/speed-reads,,speed-reads, breaking news, comment, reviews and features from the experts at The Week

theweek.com

I expected nothing less from them. Soon to follow, all the other major opera companies in the USA. We really won't get back to normal until 2022, no matter what xxx says.

 

[Malcolm R]

I expected nothing less from them. Soon to follow, all the other major opera companies in the USA. We really won't get back to normal until 2022, no matter what xxx says.

It's going to be many years until we approach anything like "normal". Even when a vaccine is approved, a good share of the population has indicated they won't take it, or let their kids take it, so the virus will continue to circulate well after a vaccine is available (much like the flu, despite having a safe vaccine available for decades we still have many deaths every year).

 

[Jake Lipson]

Even when a vaccine is approved, a good share of the population has indicated they won't take it, or let their kids take it, so the virus will continue to circulate well after a vaccine is available

As soon as a scientifically tested and proven vaccine is available to me, I'm taking it, and everyone I know Is taking it. I look forward to being able to resume normal activities at that time. If other people don't want to take it, that's their business and I can't worry about them. But I will resume normal activities like going to movies and plays once I'm vaccinated.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Movie theaters will open at 20% capacity in Michigan on October 9th. I won't be there then nor will I attend a movie theater until further notice.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Movie theaters will open at 20% capacity in Michigan on October 9th.

Have they remained closed until now? I keep hearing that the studios want NY and LA to be open, but nothing thus far about Michigan until you mentioned it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Have they remained closed until now? I keep hearing that the studios want NY and LA to be open, but nothing thus far about Michigan until you mentioned it.

Yes, theaters in Michigan have remained closed.

 

[Jake Lipson]

It's interesting that they gave two-week notice but won't allow openings until then. I read somewhere that once San Diego got the okay to open, they did it in like four days.

I suppose it will be interesting to see if Tenet gets a significant boost over the October 9 weekend with Michigan in play. I guess that will be the big marquee attraction as nothing else major is opening yet. But given the anemic results in other states, I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[TravisR]

I suppose it will be interesting to see if Tenet gets a significant boost over the October 9 weekend with Michigan in play. I guess that will be the big marquee attraction as nothing else major is opening yet. But given the anemic results in other states, I wouldn't bet on it.

Yeah, I think it'll get a little bump but nothing that will be particularly noticeable. This is purely anecdotal but Tenet is down to playing three times a day at my local AMC. The first show had no one in it at 4 PM, the 5PM has two people in it and the 7:30 currently has 10 people (which will increase) and while those first two showtimes aren't exactly great if you have a 9 to 5 job, I still think it shows that that movie has basically had its run. People who have been waiting to see it that live in places with closed theaters will likely go but like pretty much every movie more than three weeks old, the general public has forgotten about it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The first show had no one in it at 4 PM, the 5PM has two people in it and the 7:30 currently has 10 people (which will increase)

That's better than here. It has five showings today, from 4:15 through 8:00, and none of them has sold a single ticket yet. It's also interesting that only the 8:00 show is being charged at nighttime prices. Under normal circumstances, 4:00 is when they turn over from matinee rate to evening rate, but they're now charging $7.50 until 8:00, apparently. Granted, they aren't opening for shows earlier than 4:00, but I figured that only offering shows in the evenings would be an excuse to charge full price. Surely they need as much money as they can get. Maybe they think charging $7.50 will get some people to come out, but apparently it's not working.

The Empire Strikes Back in auditorium 11 (which is, incidentally, the largest not-premium-format screen) has sold four tickets for a 4:10 show and 7 tickets for a 7:30 show. But because it is an older title, the ticket price for it is only $5 regardless of time of day.

The fact that it is in the largest auditorium now means that Tenet is not anymore, although Tenet retains the Cinemark XD (Cinemark multiplex IMAX equivalent) room.

I really don't know how this level of attendance is sustainable. I think it's good that people are smart enough not to go to the theater right now for safety reasons, but I'm pretty sure they have to be operating at a loss with anemic numbers like these.

 

[bujaki]

De Santis is opening Florida businesses without restrictions. Long live Freedom. Long live Death!

 

[Tino]

De Santis is opening Florida businesses without restrictions. Long live Freedom. Long live Death!

He’s almost as bad as you know who! Unbelievable.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Let’s stop with political references before we get out of hand.