Corona Movie Theater Thread: 49% Say Movie Theaters Are Now "Obsolete"

[AndyDursin]

I'm guessing this one will go the home route, unlike Bond. After GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS underperformed, Warner may well be happy to take whatever money they can get and run. It's not like WW1984 where they are definitely leaving some money on the table not keeping it on the shelf, and trying to turn HBO Max into a thing instead.

[AndyDursin]

No shocker here. I bet we will start seeing 2022 dates being firmed up soon.

The problem is some of these films will grow stale on the shelf, but for the really pricey fare, they have no choice.

[AndyDursin]

Bond pushed to the fall...for now. I think 2022 is going to be more likely.

https://deadline.com/2021/01/no-time-to ... 234672055/

[Paul MacLean]

Bond pushed to the fall...for now. I think 2022 is going to be more likely.

What's funny is they could conceivably make another Bond film between now and then!

[AndyDursin]

That's true, and it's one problem with 1-2 years worth of delayed releases -- once the glut of product is released, seems like there is going to be a situation where every movie installment is delayed on the other end 1-2 years as a result. At this point, had COVID not happened, something like QUIET PLACE II would've been released on all platforms and another sequel would probably be in production in the next 6 months. Instead we may not even see it released in the next 6 months, and they're not going to push another one until they get the box-office in (as they would on most of these films). I don't think production is rolling on too much new content at the moment relative to pre-COVID, especially the big budget fare, so there will be a gap.

The other thing, said before many times, is some of these movies are going to grow stale on the shelf, at least a little. Add in the audience reduction that will happen -- and it will probably never fully recover since it had been declining anyway -- and it's understandable that MGM explored a sale for Bond with the streaming services.

Problem is they asked $600 mil, and nobody offered half of that, apparently.

[Monterey Jack]

What's funny is they could conceivably make another Bond film between now and then!

Back in the Connery days, there would have been three Bond movies made in the gap between Spectre and No Way To Die.

Once things get "back to normal" and the next 007 actor has been selected, it'd be nice to get back to that 70s/80s "new Bond movie every two years like clockwork" schedule. Craig has now been playing the character for FOURTEEN YEARS, two more than previous record-holder Roger Moore, and yet Moore gave us 00seven movies in the dozen years he held the role. And it's not like the long gaps between films have resulted in higher quality. Granted, Quantum Of Solace came along only two years after Casino Royale, and was severely impacted by the writer's strike of 2008, but Spectre came along three years after the excellent Skyfall, and despite all of the luxury of additional time to work on it, it still tuned out to be clumsy and poorly-scripted.

Just a shame that EON couldn't have released No Time To Die in late 2019 before we all got mired in Coronaville, but I could say the same about WB and Wonder Woman, which was delayed because they didn't want it to "compete" with Joker and because it was thought of as "more of a summer movie"...despite the fact that the epilogue of the movie is set during the Christmas season! Hell, had Fox not delayed The King's Man from its original Valentine's Day release last year, it could have made a profit in the month it would have had before theaters shut down. I mean, look at how well The Invisible Man did in that small window of time it had between release and the theater shutdowns.

[Johnmgm]

I think Wonder Woman 1984 was delayed because it stunk/stinks/stank. I honestly suspect that *part* of the reason WB is releasing it's entire slate of 2021 movies on HBO/Max is that they also probably stink. I suspect it's much easier to bury a fiasco on streaming than it would be at the box-office.

[AndyDursin]

As bad as it is, they still gave up a massive gross on that movie. WW1984 would've made close to or upwards of $200 mil domestic in its first weekend theatrically. Reviews wouldn't have mattered. Crap like CAPTAIN MARVEL, which basically nobody liked, still hit $400 mil domestic, they wouldve cleared that easy here because people generally did give a thumbs up to the first WW and would've gone to check it out.

They wouldn't have buried it because all of these films are guaranteed a certain amount in the first week or two pretty much, no matter what they are, or how lousy they are.

I mean when was the last one of these dumb franchise movies that really did poorly? And even then you have to have a movie that people are really disinterested in ahead of time, like SOLO, to depress the grosses.

[Johnmgm]

If WB would have been really hot on WW84 it would not have been pushed back even before the pandemic. Covid or not, WW84 would have dropped like a rock on its second week. Releasing it and The Witches and other crap to HBO/Max made perfect sense for many reasons.

[AndyDursin]

Wonder Woman made $800 million-plus worldwide. WW1984 isnt The Witches. Its a sequel to a massive worldwide smash that, even if it sucked (and it does), was going at the bare minimum to have a massive opening weekend, and as such would make far more money playing theatrically than it will going out the way it did. Wouldn't have mattered if it tanked quickly and suffered from bad word of mouth in its second weekend.

You know the drill with these films, many of them take in half of their grosses during the first week or 10 days of release. Any comic book movie and a sequel especially follows the same pattern pretty much. There's a guarantee of a massive opening and this would've had it if it opened last summer.

[Johnmgm]

Andy, what exactly are you arguing about?

[AndyDursin]

I'm just saying they left a lot of money sending this one to streaming. I disagree they were burying it because its terrible. I think with The Witches thats probably (even likely) applicable but not with WW1984, they would've at least opened strongly before the bottom quickly fell out.

[AndyDursin]

...and another major summer movie is going to the streamers.

https://deadline.com/2021/01/chris-prat ... 234672038/

Chris Pratt’s ‘The Tomorrow War’ Sci-Fi Movie Shopped To Streamers By Skydance; Amazon Eyeing For $200M – Update

UPDATE 6:05 PM after earlier exclusive: As we previously told you, Skydance was bound to unload The Tomorrow War. Tonight, Amazon has aggressively offered $200M. The deal is still not done. Amazon recently bought Paramount’s Coming 2 America for $125M, which was set to debut during the year-end holiday corridor, and Skydance’s Without Remorse which was also set to get a theatrical release via Paramount this past autumn.

EXCLUSIVE, 11:01AM: We hear that the Paramount/Skydance Chris Pratt movie The Tomorrow War was recently screened to the major streamers over the weekend. It played really well, I hear, and that there is a strong interest for the movie. Skydance, I understand, is leading the process in selling the movie here, not Paramount.

The sci-fi film, which Pratt is also an EP on, follows a man who is drafted to fight in a future war where the fate of humanity relies on his ability to confront his past. Written by Zach Dean, The Tomorrow War is original IP and to have a streamer launch it, especially as exhibition returns with strong-branded fare later in the year, could make sense as the best course of action. If it was a normal marketplace, The Tomorrow War, which tested very well, would stick to a theatrical plan. The pic was originally scheduled to be a Christmas tentpole and currently has a theatrical date of July 23, 2021.

While Paramount has seen a number of its movies on its slate head to streamers; much of this has to do with film financiers making bank on event features they’ve invested in, and the theatrical window during the pandemic isn’t providing any upside with 60% of all U.S. and Canadian theaters closed. I.E. recently Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman 1984 opened to $16.7M over Christmas weekend and nosedived to 67% in its second weekend, and another 45% in weekend 3 due to a number of factors: lackluster audience response to the sequel, fear of heading to the movies during the pandemic, several DMAs closed, and also the pic is available on WarnerMedia’s new streaming service HBO Max.

Skydance recently sold Without Remorse to Amazon, and its upcoming animated pics, Spellbound and Luck, to Apple. Both were at Paramount.

Skydance and Paramount provided no comment when reached.[/b]

https://deadline.com/2021/01/chris-prat ... 234672038/

[Monterey Jack]

This is the end of everything.

[AndyDursin]

There isn't going to be a summer 21 movie season, that seems pretty apparent right now. If the vaccine is implemented by state governments as slowly as it has been -- and they are mostly sitting on stockpiles of it -- we will all be dead from waiting. Not from covid, but old age!