This is where we come in. The phrase comes from the formerly common practice of audiences arriving late to the cinema and watching the next session until they reached it. (Strange, but true.) It is appropriate when facing a number of great films – almost half of the studio’s release schedule by the end of April – postponing their dates, again.
On January 21, James Bond changed his five months; “No Time to Die” is now scheduled for October 8th. We are approaching the one-year anniversary of its first move last March, when it was from April to November. The reasoning remains the same: Eon Prods. exists almost entirely in this franchise. With production and marketing costs close to $ 400 million, it needs cinemas to operate to its full potential. At the end of January 22, Paramount announced the change to “A Quiet Place Part II”. Scheduled for April 23, it is now September 17.
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Transformer and unstable remains the new normal of theatrical distribution. At the time of this writing, there are only 10 studio titles as of the end of April: five are from Warner Bros. (who play day-to-day with HBO Max) and one is from Universal (with its now standard VOD Premium option in its fourth week.) They are more likely to remain immobile.
The other four – two from Lionsgate, one from Disney and one from Sony – are less certain. Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon”, scheduled for March 5, may be the next to come out; it may have a lot of potential to remain on that date or as a theatrical exclusivity.
Summer blockbusters traditionally begin their launch in May, and for now, we have “Black Widow” on May 7 and “F9” on May 28. Each can represent up to $ 1 billion in gross, but the chances are diminishing that they will stick to those dates. “No Time to Die,” “The King’s Men,” “Ghostbusters: After Life,” and “A Quiet Place Part II” – the four most anticipated films among this week’s many changes – all readjusted for August and beyond. Sony also changed its adaptation to the video game “Uncharted”, starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, from July to February 2022.
For cinemas, there is good news: none of these changes involve switching to streaming or VOD playback. (“A Quiet Place Part II” may have been a tempting option for the upcoming Paramount streaming platform.) One exception: Netflix purchased worldwide rights to “The Mitchells vs. the Machines ”by Sony Animation. Another animated film, “Bob’s Burgers” – a Disney title inherited from Fox’s acquisition – changed from March to undated, suggesting the possibility that it will reach Disney +.
Warner Bros. is a hero and villain for putting all of his 2021 release schedule on HBO Max’s date and year. The major networks quietly recognize this reality; AMC and Cinemark are now selling tickets for Warners’ Denzel Washington vehicle on January 29, “The Little Things”.
Change of rules. Cinemark is now playing the Netflix title “The White Tiger” and previously Amazon’s “One Night in Miami”. A year ago, this was unthinkable.
None of this is the final word, and nobody should believe that the date change is over. The main theater chains are all publicly traded and have survival strategies; the Save Our Screens help package approved by Congress last month will keep many smaller companies afloat. Theaters have a post-pandemic future, but they are increasingly likely to play a lesser role in showing films. The clearest indication: a year ago, this week’s ads would have looked apocalyptic. Today, it is business as usual.
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