Prepare For More Movie Release Changes As Studios React To Delta Variant
By Shania Russell/Aug. 18, 2021 9:06 am EST
Things have to get worse before they get better, or so we keep saying as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. Hopes have been high for the past few months, as the world inched closer to normalcy, but the numbers don’t lie. The contagious Delta variant is causing a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, and the idea of continuing pre-pandemic activities gets less appealing by the day. This is bad news for pretty much everyone — including movie theaters and studio executives, who are quickly losing their audiences.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, recent polls show moviegoing comfort levels have taken a turn for the worst. Having reached a pandemic-era high of 81% in early July, the numbers proceeded to drop at a consistent rate, to a low 64%. Studios have kept a close eye on the results, which spell out concern for theatrical release in general, and especially those targeted at younger demographics. Studio executives are already revealing just how worrisome they find the numbers with one exec telling THR, “If I knew six weeks ago what I know now, I would have moved everything as far out as early next year.”
Prepare For More Movie Release Changes As Studios React To Delta Variant
By Shania Russell/Aug. 18, 2021 9:06 am EST
Things have to get worse before they get better, or so we keep saying as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. Hopes have been high for the past few months, as the world inched closer to normalcy, but the numbers don’t lie. The contagious Delta variant is causing a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, and the idea of continuing pre-pandemic activities gets less appealing by the day. This is bad news for pretty much everyone — including movie theaters and studio executives, who are quickly losing their audiences.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, recent polls show moviegoing comfort levels have taken a turn for the worst. Having reached a pandemic-era high of 81% in early July, the numbers proceeded to drop at a consistent rate, to a low 64%. Studios have kept a close eye on the results, which spell out concern for theatrical release in general, and especially those targeted at younger demographics. Studio executives are already revealing just how worrisome they find the numbers with one exec telling THR, “If I knew six weeks ago what I know now, I would have moved everything as far out as early next year.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, recent polls show moviegoing comfort levels have taken a turn for the worst. Having reached a pandemic-era high of 81% in early July, the numbers proceeded to drop at a consistent rate, to a low 64%. Studios have kept a close eye on the results, which spell out concern for theatrical release in general, and especially those targeted at younger demographics. Studio executives are already revealing just how worrisome they find the numbers with one exec telling THR, “If I knew six weeks ago what I know now, I would have moved everything as far out as early next year.”
Studios Are Already Making Big Moves
Are There More Delays to Come?
Where some biggies like F9 and Black Widow managed to premiere in theaters earlier this summer, MGM’s No Time To Die is currently scheduled for October 8, 2021. Other titles include Top Gun: Maverick, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Marvel’s The Eternals, all of which are currently slated for November releases.
If anything’s clear, it’s that things aren’t getting back to normal quite yet. (And if we want them to, getting vaccinated should be on the top of the to-do list.)
