The pandemic isn’t just putting release dates on hold.
It could transform Hollywood as we know it.
Maybe you’ve heard aboutTom Cruise’s plans to launch himself into outer space?
Audiences may not notice it immediately, but by 2023, the genre could disappear from big screens entirely.
The rest of the town has all but left the game.
Home video isn’t coming to Hollywood’s rescue, either.
Releasing films theatrically overseas, where theaters are reopening more quickly, might help, but only a bit.
Studios take in merely a third of the ticket sales from places like China and Europe.
Chris Weitz, filmmaker
I’m sure everybody at the studios is freaking out right now.
There are other risk factors.
Keeping that many people healthy in the midst of a pandemic isn’t just a logistical nightmare; it’sexpensive.
“We’re talking millions and millions of dollars,” saysWorld War Zproducer Graham King.
New technologies could help minimize some of the danger.
But, again, it’s not cheap.
James Cameron’sAvatarsequels are being shot with VR and are still costing a billion dollars.
Of course, all this could change overnight.
Maybe Russia’s Sputnik vaccine will work.
Or maybe President Trump is right and the virus will disappear “like a miracle.”
Certainly, that’s what a lot of movie executives are praying for.
“I have to think positive,” says King.
“Even during wartime, people still go to movie theaters.”
“Maybe Amazon buys a theater chain,” says ICM CEO Chris Silbermann.
“They could integrate Amazon stores into mall theaters and re-envision the entire theatrical experience.
The theater experience hasn’t changed in 80 years.
Maybe this is a great opportunity to reinvent it.”
Maybe it’s also an opportunity for Hollywood to reinvent itself.
After four decades of placing bigger and bigger bets, has the time come to start thinking smaller?
Sadly, shooting Tom Cruise into space is a luxury Hollywood can no longer afford.
With reporting by Tyler Aquilina and Derek Lawrence.
Illustration by Golden Cosmos.
