The pandemic is changing many different aspects of daily life, and many industries. Hollywood is no exception to that. Many major productions have halted over the past four months, and have been unable to start up again.
With movie production shutting down due to coronavirus fears, many individuals are out of work. Actors and directors aren’t working, but neither are stunt people, grips, lighting riggers, costume designers, and hundreds of other individuals involved with every production aspect.
Actors who already have millions of dollars in the bank are probably doing just fine right now. The pandemic is hardly going to put Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt out on the street. But many in the movie industry are worried about both the present and the future, even after we develop a vaccine.
Let’s go over some ways the movie industry is changing because of current challenges, and what it could look like after the crisis has died down.
Fewer People Might Return to Movie Theaters
These are anxious times for Hollywood, whether you’re a matinee idol, sell maps to stars’ homes, or you’re a lawyer specializing in criminal defense law. Individuals in all fields are feeling Covid-19’s impact, and for some, the future doesn’t exactly look bright. Directors, actors, and other movie industry types have to consider the following:
- Most theaters are still closed
- Even when they reopen, people might not be willing to go back
In the immediate future, many theaters are going to reopen. Regal Cinema, one of the most prominent chains, has pushed back reopening twice, but now they’re saying that it’s going to happen later this month. They’re going to have social distancing in place, demand that both employees and guests wear masks, and there’s going to be contactless food ordering and pickup.
It seems to be a solid plan, but are people ready to go back to the movies? An individual with a preexisting condition isn’t going to want to risk seeing the latest movie if they know that the coronavirus could kill them if they catch it. Also, the theaters will operate at a reduced capacity, since they can’t have strangers sitting right next to each other.
A “sold out” movie will only be one-third full. It could be years until we see theaters 100% full again. It seems certain that box office revenue will slump even when those in charge reopen their doors to the public.
Fewer People Were Going to Theaters Anyway
At the same time, it’s not as though record numbers of people were going to movie theaters even before the pandemic struck. Many individuals and families are reluctant to pay what they see as exorbitant prices to see a movie, and then shell out an additional fifteen dollars for a large popcorn.
Streaming video on demand, abbreviated SVOD, was already getting extremely popular pre-pandemic. It’s both easier and cheaper. You can stream the latest Hollywood blockbuster if you have:
- A TV
- A streaming device like Roku
Your couch is probably more comfortable than movie theater seats, and if you want popcorn, you can walk a few feet into the kitchen and microwave a bag. You can pause the movie whenever you like to use the bathroom. It’s easy to see why individuals might prefer this kind of viewing experience.
When the pandemic winds down, will even fewer people head back to movie theaters when they can stream the latest films instead?
More Focus on Streaming Services
It seems likely that all this will lead to more focus by studios, directors, actors, etc. on streaming platforms to deliver their efforts.
Think about the debut of the recent film “Artemis Fowl” on the Disney+ platform. The Kenneth Branagh-directed adaption of the Eoin Colfer book didn’t fare well with critics, but that’s not the point. Although it was a multi-million-dollar production featuring several name-brand stars, Disney decided never to release it in theaters.
If you try and think about why Disney’s top brass decided to do things this way, it’s not that hard to figure out. They knew that theaters would close for quite some time, and they felt like they needed to incentivize Disney+ subscriptions in the meantime. It’s the same reason they got the rights to the film version of “Hamilton” and released that on the platform.
It seems evident that some major film production companies might be more willing to release big-budget films exclusively on their streaming services soon. Might that stay the same even once all the theaters open again?
Less Big-Name Actor Draw
It’s also not unreasonable to think that big-name actor appeal might not be what it once was after the pandemic. There was already a trend of some notable actors going to the small screen and doing television after a career in movies. Think of Al Pacino doing the show “Hunters” for Amazon Prime Video, for instance.
If many actors are moving to TV anyway, and fewer people are going to movie theaters because of studio willingness to release films via their streaming services, then can a star command twenty-million plus for their name being on the marquee? Actor prices may go down in this new era, which isn’t going to sit well with some, but it’s all about what the market will bear.
Many independent theaters will close because of the pandemic. At the same time, lots of movies that were in postproduction and expected to come out earlier this year will all come out at about the same time, stacked one on top of the other. It’s almost inevitable that they will underperform.
What all of this will mean going forward is far from certain. Like so many other industries, Hollywood is going to have to cross its fingers and wait to see how the land lies six months or a year down the road. One thing’s for sure: the film industry we see post-pandemic is almost guaranteed to look dramatically different in several ways.
