Chances are it will be.
The COVID-19 pandemic, a relentless global assault via one of the most contagious flu-like viruses we’ve ever seen, is set for a wildly unpredictable outcome. It’s only been 3 weeks since the entire world started shutting down its businesses, including movie theaters, for an indefinite amount of time. The virus has since spread like wildfire to over 190 countries.
Despite AMC Theatres’ CEO Adam Aron saying that he “would love to think that America will be enjoying summer movie season again” this year (via Deadline), he’s not being realistic. The theater chain executive’s positive outlook is merely wishful thinking.
If anything, Sony pulling the plug on their films was as close to a red alert signal as we’re going to get that we should start planning to write the 2020 summer movie season’s obituary.
Of course, there could, all of a sudden, through the magic of science, appear a vaccine that completely changes the game, but that’s just wishful thinking as the foremost authority within the U.S. COVID-19 task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says a vaccine wouldn’t be ready for another 12-18 months. Another best-case-scenario would involve the virus dying amidst the severe humidity of summer, but some experts say the virus is too new, and it’s too early in the season, to determine how it’s affected by weather and climate.
Other than the two scenarios above playing out, we are most likely to be in dire straits come the summer. With studios already delaying their prime summer movies, the months of May until July (or even August) look very dim. Just today, one of the last major blockbusters to remain on the movie schedule decided to call it a season. Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” switched its June 24th release date to a more comfortable December release date. The Tom Cruise-starring sequel now joins “Black Widow,” “F9,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” and “Wonder Woman 1984,” as the inevitable dawns on us.
I’m also hearing Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” (July 24th) will have its release postponed next week.
Once Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” one of the last blockbuster summer titles not postponed, is also rescheduled, then the harsh reality will set in and our efforts to save an entire film industry for a three-month period will feel like an unrealistic proposition.
Where does this leave Disney and Pixar’s “Soul” (June 19th), which was rumored to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and was expected to be a well-reviewed film? Will this be an opportunity for the mouse house to skip theatrical and opt to exclusively premiere it on Disney+? Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island” (July 19th) seems like the kind of film that wouldn’t necessarily get hurt by a direct-to-streaming release, ditto David Lowery’s “Green Knight” (May 29th), and Aneesh Chaganty’s “Run” (May 8th).
Regardless, the summer movie season seems to be canceled. The faster people start to realize that, the less likely we’ll be pondering this question in the coming weeks. It’s no longer a matter of if, but when. The stakes are too high for us to be in a darkened theater come July, with hundreds of people cramped up next to each other, watching the latest Christopher Nolan movie. It just can’t happen.
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