Movie-Watching In The Time Of Corona
Do you remember the inviting smell of butter wafting up your nose? Deciding whether or not to get that ICEE—and when you inevitably do—whether or not you'll layer blue raspberry with white cherry or coke? And later, once you’ve taken your seats in the theater, taking mental notes of which of the trailers you would want to see in person when they came out? Or even the process of meticulously deciding which row to sit in, only to have it snatched away at the last second? Okay, maybe that one you won’t miss. All this feels so far away now, comforts we didn't know how good we had until they were gone. It's fair to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the movie-watching landscape.
It looks like the blockbuster sequel Wonder Woman 1984 is coming to both the small screen and big screen this December. This film was initially intended to be solely released in theaters in June and was delayed several times due to the pandemic before Warner Bros. recently announced their unprecedented decision to have the film release both in theaters and available on the HBO Max streaming platform this Christmas. This shocking move is indicative of all the shifts and developments we’ve seen in the industry this year.
Looking at box office and cinema trends, COVID-19 has caused major theater closures across the country and brought many theater companies on the brink of bankruptcy, their stocks taking a massive hit this year. In my Entertainment and Media Industries course I’m taking, as we’re currently experiencing the pandemic there’s not a lot of substantiated data regarding the film and media sector. Therefore with the content we’re learning, as my professor states. we’re operating under the pretenses that things will go back to normal. But with the unforeseen changes we’ve seen in just the past few months this is something that leads me to wonder, where does this leave us? Do we need to have a reckoning with the unstable status of our film industry?
In 2020, Streaming is King - now more than ever. And as we’re all in lockdown/quarantine, the more time we spend inside, the more the rate at which we’re all consuming content rises. Major video streaming services, namely Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and Disney+ have received a spike of 10% in viewership worldwide. This influx of streamers and subscriptions has led major players to make decisions such as Netflix announcing this fall that they would no longer offer free 30-day trial subscriptions to new users in the U.S. Perhaps they were taking a cue from Disney+ who removed their free trial feature this summer with the release of their smash hit, Hamilton (initially intended for theatrical release). But overall, what this trend demonstrates is that in trying times like these, watching shows and movies are no longer just a source of leisure, but a source of comfort and escape.
Now, direct-to-video is no longer the destination for throw-away films like the fourth installment in the Alvin and the Chipmunks series that no one asked for. Instead, it's a viable means of release where studios aim to recuperate an ounce of a box office revenue charging often around $19.99 for a newly-released film. We saw that starting this summer with the release of Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island and even with independent films such as Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth. But as these new-release costs are at least double the cost of a monthly subscription to major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Disney+ which each have expansive catalogs of film and television content, it’s a major turn-off to pay upfront a steeper price upfront for new movies sans the experience of the movie theater atmosphere. Additionally, in an effort to continue social distancing, this summer we unexpectedly saw the resurgence of an almost dormant drive-in movie theater industry whose heyday of the 50s had been long gone. The unique charm of the Drive-in atmosphere was one of novelty and a new discovery for many consumers. With many live summer events cancelled, many across the country jumped at the opportunity to make an outing of seeing a film on a big screen rather than in the confines of their home and be around others in a safe manner. And as fears regarding confined shared spaces increases, we way see a continuation of this as a viable film-watching alternative.
Movie theaters are largely suffering during this time and they are attempting to lure viewers back, for example, AMC offering their deal for customers in small groups to rent out entire theaters for the novel price of $99, and some others offering reduced ticket prices. But major chains such as AMC have a bit more of a safety net to cushion the blow of the major losses this year. However, smaller and independent theaters do not have the same resources- many of them in grave danger by both movie release delays and COVID-19 closures. The National Association of Theater Owners warned that if this trend continues, 69% of small- and mid-sized theaters could be forced to file for bankruptcy or close permanently. Patrons have been trying to find ways to support indie theaters through donations, purchasing gift cards, or attending online events among other things.
The release of Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated action-thriller Tenet was meant to mark the return to theaters. After the release was delayed twice due to the pandemic, it was finally released in theaters on August 12th. However, overall, even the star-power of a major director/filmmaker (and studio) such as Nolan (and Warner Bros) wasn’t enough to outweigh audience concerns regarding COVID safety. The film has grossed $353.5 million at the box office worldwide, especially doing well in the international market in Asia considering all circumstances. But the numbers, especially domestically, were disappointingly low- generating $6.7 million in the U.S. and Canada during its second weekend of release (29% down from the first week of release). With theaters being closed in New York and Los Angeles, the two largest movie-watching populations in the country and 65% of American and Canadian theaters are operating at 25–40% capacity, Tenet suffered a massive hit. Seeing the lackluster outcome for Nolan’s blockbuster, many major studios have taken a cue from this and pushed back their slated releases for major films such as Black Widow and Avatar 2 to 2021 and 2022, and onwards.
A phrase we've been hearing a lot in this COVID-19 world is “The New Normal." But what does that look like for the future of our film industry? What will it look like when we fully reopen? How long will that take? Are there new contenders to arise in this sector? As we approach the end of this year, all I can do is remain hopeful that as we come to rediscover what movie-watching looks like in our hopefully one day post-COVID world. Because I very much look forward to settling myself into a reclining seat with an overpriced bucket of popcorn, whispering a little too loudly to a friend in the seat beside me about the riveting movie in front of us. In the meantime, we have plenty of digital releases to look forward to this winter, from Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max to Pixar’s Soul on Disney+.
