The whole world is in panic, and the word "coronavirus" has begun to be used more often than others in the media, at work and in everyday conversations. People are dying, and leading doctors and virologists are trying to invent a magic tool that will help stop the epidemic. We decided to draw some quick conclusions about how the coronavirus is affecting the film industry right now.
Expected premieres are postponed around the world
The film industry, like any other business, works according to a certain pattern. By investing some (and often in the case of Hollywood, a lot) money, filmmakers expect to profit from the distribution. After the outbreak of the virus, the long-awaited and expected premieres began to be canceled and postponed everywhere due to quarantine. The closure of Chinese sites (which, by the way, occupy the second place in terms of profit in the world after the United States) for quarantine is a tangible blow to the film industry as a whole.
Pictures such as "Jojo Rabbit", "Little Women" and "1917" were supposed to appear in cinemas in China almost immediately after the Oscars, but now the Chinese are not up to going to the cinema.
Only after the announcement of the postponement of the next part of the Bondiada "No Time to Die" to November, according to preliminary forecasts of marketers, the losses of the film company Universal will amount to several hundred million dollars. Nevertheless, viewers themselves are asking to move the dates, fearing that mass events will increase the number of cases. After much deliberation, Universal announced that the release will take place in the fall in order to protect the world's population. The place of the James Bond movie will be replaced in the posters by the cartoon "Trolls". The only thing that can save the Bond movie is the fact that the picture will be released on the eve of the holidays associated with American Thanksgiving.
If Fast and Furious 9 follows the No Time to Die example, Universal could be in big financial trouble.
The film "Lost in Russia", which was one of the most anticipated premieres in January, was shown on Internet platforms instead of large screens. Director Xu Zheng decided to make a Chinese New Year present to the people of the country, and viewers could watch the film completely free of charge while in isolation at home.
Like the rest of the movie studios, Paramount announced that Sonic in the Movies will not be released on time. The date of the postponed release has not yet been announced.
If we summarize and compile a list of which films have already received cancellation of movie premieres in cinemas due to the coronavirus, then it will look like this:
- "No Time to Die" (No Time to Die);
- "Jojo Rabbit";
- Little Women;
- «1917» (1917);
- "Forward" (Onward);
- Women's Volleyball Team (Zhong guo nu pai);
- Rescue Service (Jin ji jiu yuan);
- Chinatown Detective 3 (Tang ren jie tang an 3);
- Vanguard (Ji xian feng);
- Boonie Bears: The Wild Life;
- Lost in Russia (Jiong ma);
- The Amazing Journey of Dr. Dolittle;
- Sonic the Hedgehog;
- "Hellboy" (Hellboy).
Some countries have not moved the dates of the premieres, but this is more the exception than the rule.
Disney had long doubted whether it was worth releasing the premiere of Mulan on the big screens in the midst of the epidemic, and eventually chose the middle ground. Chinese audiences will not be able to watch the film yet, but the release did take place in the US. The organizers of the release, which took place at the Dolby Theater, placed disinfectants and wipes all over the place to provide at least some protection.
The actors who starred in the film shone in expensive outfits, but avoided shaking hands and other contacts with each other in fear of contracting a dangerous disease. The picture was intended for an oriental audience, but the coronavirus made its own amendments. It is not known whether Mulan, the production of which was spent more than two hundred million dollars, will be able to pay off without the planned screenings in China.
Temporary closure of cinemas
China, in which the coronavirus arose, was the first to announce the quarantine of cinemas. In total, over 70,000 screens in 11,000 cinemas are temporarily closed. Economists believe it cost the country more than two billion in losses in the first weeks of quarantine alone. Those cinemas that continued to operate brought in about $ 4 million in January, compared to $ 1.5 billion in the same period last year. In February, the Chinese decided to give up attending public events altogether.
Immediately after the closure of Chinese cinemas, quarantine followed in Hong Kong, Italy and South Korea. According to some reports, proceeds from visiting the existing halls amounted to only 30 percent of the expected. The attendance of the shows is called the worst in the last decade.
The opening dates of the quarantined cinemas are still unknown.
Stalling Comic Con
DC Comics was the first to refuse to participate in the festival, and then the rest of the participants followed their example. The organizers of the event were forced to abandon the event in order to protect employees and visitors from the spread of COVID-19. A large-scale annual convention of representatives of the film industry was supposed to start in late March in Las Vegas. "There will be no festival!" NATO President John Fithian and CinemaCon organizer Mitch Neuhauser said in a joint public address.
What will Comic Con Russia 2020 be?
Instead of an afterword
If we return to the question of how the coronavirus is affecting the film industry right now, then we can answer in one word - extremely negative. All of the above negatively affected the activities of leading firms associated with the film industry, including IMAX, whose shares have fluctuated in price during the quarantine. The financial losses of all companies related to the film business and distribution are enormous and amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
In addition to the financial consequences, more terrible ones have appeared - the virus does not distinguish between stars and ordinary people, and the first movie stars have already appeared who have been diagnosed with coronavirus. The first actors to admit the presence of the COVID-19 virus were Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson. The star couple is in quarantine in one of the Australian clinics, and the doctors are doing everything possible to make Tom and Rita get better.
The rest of the celebrities are trying to protect themselves as much as possible from the possibility of infection. In addition, filming is being postponed indefinitely. So, Orlando Bloom said that the filming process of the sequel to "Carnival Row" has been suspended due to the epidemic. What will happen next is still unknown, but the coronavirus has a detrimental effect on all spheres of life and cinema is no exception.