Will COVID-19 end theatrical movies

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The anti-vaxers might really hamper things opening up.

If anti-vaxxers want to die off like the dinosaurs, hey, feel free. I for one will avail myself of a vaccine once it hits the market.

[Havok83]

There's nothing wrong with people that choose not to get the vaccine. Not everyone needs to get a vaccine. The fact that it exists and people will get it will greatly reduce transmission of COVID. If its not circulating then people will not get it. Obvioously that will be slower than if everyone got it but the numbers decrease and with less vectors out there, it will be less of a problem. One main issue with COVID is the lack of resources to deal with the overwhelming amount of people that get it. The hospitals will be better equipped to deal with the few that will get it post-vaccine

[Vakanai]

Not 'end' but certainly minimise, if cinemas become obsolete it will be covid that pushed them out the door but streaming service that picked the lock.Cinemas would always make way for streaming services just like the once famed Walkman is now a museum piece next to today's smart phone

That's not even remotely accurate. Streaming isn't going to replace going out to the movies.

[Jim Kelly]

Early on in the pandemic I realized I was going through Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's five stages of grief:

denial
anger
bargaining
depression
acceptance

And probably everyone else was as well. Thing about these five stages is even if you get to acceptance, you're very likely to fall back and go through it all over again--some people get stuck at one stage and never move on from there.

Accepting any kind of change is hard. But some changes are permanent and we can't bargain them away or refuse to accept they exist. Going to a movie theatre was a nice thing in the past, but it could be that experience will never come back--at least not how we remember it. Theatre going had already changed before the pandemic and was not nearly as good as it used to be. You did have this V.I.P. screening, which was a new thing that promised a better experience, but those were very expensive.

All the changes that have happened with theatrical movies have been in order to get more people to see the movies and pay more money. It there wasn't that competitive pressure, these innovations might not have happened--talkies, colour, wide screen, "Dolby^® Sound," 3D., "IMAX^®Theatres."

If the goal isn't to get people into theatres and switches over to getting people to stream movies at home--which is a more cost effective way of distributing a movie--then maybe there need to be different innovations for home viewing. And maybe the culture of movies will change with that.

Instead of fighting to keep things how they were, sometimes you need to accept that can't happen. The economics and the market have changed. The industries that accept the new normal are the ones that will be best positioned to profit in the future.

[AndrewCrossett]

I think almost everything but big "spectacle" movies, and maybe the occasional star-studded rom-com and such, will move to a streaming-only economy. But for big sci-fi and superhero movies, people will want the big screen, the theater sound, and the crowd reactions. Who wants to sit there in silence as the Death Star blows up or Hulk pounds the floor with Loki? Even subtle moments of humor are placed in movies for the specific purpose of getting a group laugh from the audience.

But in any case, those big movies don't happen without theatrical box office backing them up. Release a blockbuster movie in the theater, 20 people pay for 20 tickets to see it. Release it on pay-per-view streaming, those same 20 people pack into a room and watch it for the price of one ticket. People will either have to hitch up their belts and head back out to the theaters, or learn to do without big splashy movies.

[Kirby101]

I think almost everything but big "spectacle" movies, and maybe the occasional star-studded rom-com and such, will move to a streaming-only economy. But for big sci-fi and superhero movies, people will want the big screen, the theater sound, and the crowd reactions. Who wants to sit there in silence as the Death Star blows up or Hulk pounds the floor with Loki? Even subtle moments of humor are placed in movies for the specific purpose of getting a group laugh from the audience.

But in any case, those big movies don't happen without theatrical box office backing them up. Release a blockbuster movie in the theater, 20 people pay for 20 tickets to see it. Release it on pay-per-view streaming, those same 20 people pack into a room and watch it for the price of one ticket. People will either have to hitch up their belts and head back out to the theaters, or learn to do without big splashy movies.

Or wait a year until it is safe. Putting your life on the line to see a movie isn't brave, it's dumb.

[luprki]

It will not take that long. The pandemic is still a thing in this country bc people are over being quarantined. As soon as the states started to ease up on restrictions, people went out in droves and this was after 3 months of having stuff denied to them. It will not take 3 years post-vaccine to get people out. If a vaccine is distributed early next year and the curve decreases and stays flat, it'll probably be months for businesses to start to recover with most people being comfortable to use those services

Yes, people went out in drove, but we learned a hard lesson for doing that. Plus not enough people are going to go the a theater in droves to see a movie they can wait three months to watch safely at home.
Big budget movies will suffer with a small theater attendance. “Bill and Ted“ has just announced a simultaneously theater/VOD release.

[Gaastra]

Yup. Delayed again.

https://variety.com/2020/film/box-of...ey-1234699183/

[luprki]

Yup. Delayed again.

https://variety.com/2020/film/box-of...ey-1234699183/

Big question is: How long the studios willing to hold on to these movies if they can’t get a theatrical release.

[AndrewCrossett]

Or wait a year until it is safe. Putting your life on the line to see a movie isn't brave, it's dumb.

I meant post-vaccine.

[Maestro 216]

Yup. Delayed again.

https://variety.com/2020/film/box-of...ey-1234699183/

Not good people won't have patience for a year long hiatus

[Kirby101]

I meant post-vaccine.

Okay. Yeah, I think a lot of people will go back when it's safe. If there are theaters still open.

[AndrewCrossett]

Okay. Yeah, I think a lot of people will go back when it's safe. If there are theaters still open.

Even if the current companies go under, the theaters will still be there and new companies will pick them up.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Yup. Delayed again.

https://variety.com/2020/film/box-of...ey-1234699183/

Disney might as well just say "screw it!" and send Mulan to their streaming service. At this rate, there's no telling when multiplexes will reopen, it damn sure won't happen next month or September. Hell, theaters could remain dark until early 2021, and even THAT'S a reach right now.

[GozertheGozarian]

Bill and Ted Face the Music is still aiming for September 1st in theaters and VOD. I only see half of that happening.