Cinema Owners Explore New Options as Audiences Eager to Return
With cinemas closed all over the US, theatre owners are searching for ways to keep their businesses afloat. In March, the National Association of Theatre Owners campaigned for a Federal loan that would protect thousands of jobs in the industry. Now a company called ScreenPlus is offering cinema owners a customized pirate-proof Video-on-demand digital platform. As this SlashFilm article explains, ScreenPlusVideo on-demand could create an entirely new revenue stream for movie theatres. Profits would be shared between owners, production companies, and Screentime itself. What isn’t clear, however, is how much money would this service cost and, in turn, how profitable would it be.
As for audiences, they seem to be eager to return to cinemas. A recent article by Deadline revealed results of a poll conducted in late March by the analytics company EDO. Its report was based on a poll of around 6800 respondents from all across the country. Results revealed that over 70% of those polled responded they were likely to return to cinemas once they reopened. However, 45% said they would first wait several weeks to head back to the movie theatres. The report also revealed an unsurprising increase in at-home entertainment. Most popular streaming services people signed up for were Disney+ and Hulu at 29% and 21%, respectively.
2020 Movie Release Schedule (As of Early April)
As studios like Warner Bros., Sony and Disney keep postponing their releases; it’s becoming harder to follow what films are coming out in 2020. Luckily, SlashFilm keeps a handy tally of latest release dates. According to this list, May and June are looking pretty meager right now. It’s only in July that the release schedule picks up the pace.
Christopher Nolan’s science fiction thriller Tenet is still coming out on July 17. Disney’s live-action Mulan remake arrives on July 24. Warner Bros. pushed Wonder Woman 1984 to August 14. Bill and Ted Face the Music follows on August 21. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard arrives on August 28. September is ripe with horror flicks: A Quiet Place Part II (September 4), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (September 11), Candyman, and Last Night in Soho (both on September 25).
Several summer blockbusters are now coming out during the holiday season. Venom 2 opens on October 2, and Black Widow follows on November 6. Monster mash Godzilla vs. Kong arrives on November 20 while the latest James Bond movie No Time to Die comes out on November 25. Action comedy Free Guy will open on December 11 and Top Gun: Maverick arrives on December 23.
It would be an understatement of the year to say that COVID-19 scrambled the 2020 release schedule. We’d wager the abovementioned list might easily change throughout this year as the pandemic will certainly flare up again in autumn.
Remakes of The Others and The Night of the Hunter in the Works
Even a global pandemic can’t prevent Hollywood from needlessly remaking brilliant movies. Most recent casualties of this trend: 1955 horror masterpiece The Night of the Hunter and 2001 chiller The Others. The news about The Night of the Hunter remake comes courtesy of Variety. We know very little about this project, except that Matt Orton (Operation Finale) is working on a script. As for The Others, Deadline reports that Sentient Entertainment won remake rights to the film.
Based on a novel by Davis Grubb, The Night of the Hunter is the sole film directed by the Academy Award-winning actor Charles Laughton. In it, Robert Mitchum delivers a stellar performance as a deranged murderer marrying a young widow only to obtain money stolen by her deceased husband in a bank robbery. Alejandro Amenabar’s The Others similarly focuses on a widow – played by Nicole Kidman – as she tries to defend her ill children from mysterious, malevolent events unfolding in their manor.
