“Big movies are back in theaters,” said the promotional material of Christopher Nolan’s latest sci-fi/action film, TENET, a film poised to welcome back audiences to movie theaters with (distanced) open arms: The movies are back. Christopher Nolan has saved cinemas from total extinction with the release of his new made-for-IMAX movie—while two of the biggest markets, New York and Los Angeles, had theaters still shuttered. It doesn’t matter because the movies are BACK, BABY….until they weren’t. Not only was TENET was a terrible experience in cinemas of a film filled with contradictory exposition and poorly written, one-dimensional, characters, but it barely made its money back worldwide, causing major movie studios to further delay their tentpole blockbusters (such as No Time to Die, Dune, and Black Widow).
With the announcement of No Time to Die moving from November 2020 to April 2021, Cineworld and Regal Cinemas announced their temporary closure with no current date for reopening. There was no need for TENET to release in the middle of a global pandemic, save for Christopher Nolan’s so-called “desire” to save cinemas. This quickly backfired as audiences are turning further away from the conventional ways of watching films in theaters to watching films at home. If studios keep delaying tentpole blockbusters to “TBD” dates, hoping things will get better in the next year, there may not be any theaters to show these films If audiences have now adapted to the new reality of watching films in the comfort of their homes, will they ever return to movie theaters, post-COVID? Is the era of traditional theatrical exhibition over? The answer is yes.
It’s quite grim to say that the era of traditional theatrical exhibition is over. Magically thinking things will go back to normal and the pandemic will die down has only caused further spikes of the virus as the world goes back to square one, still having to contain the spread of COVID-19. With Disney’s announcement about refocusing their entertainment strategy to its newly-released streaming service, Disney+, one could think that direct-to-consumer and streaming content for tentpole movies might be the future. But the “Premier Access” upcharge experiment with Mulan was a failure. All we’re seeing through the future of moviegoing is a cloud of uncertainty lurking amongst the studios and theatrical exhibitors. So in what state will film exhibition be after the pandemic? I don’t know much about the future of the theatrical experience, but there are a few things we can reflect on in the meantime.
TENET’s release has only proved one thing: releasing a movie in theaters during a pandemic is a terrible idea. Admittedly, the AT&T chief John Stankey confessed that TENET’s run was not a “home run,” but “we’re happy we did it.” However, the happiness couldn’t have lasted long once big multiplexes were forced to shut down again due to the lack of new content and reticent audiences staying home. Again, how were Warner Bros. happy once theaters were (yet again) forced to shut down due to the second wave hitting other parts of the world? It’s a terribly unfortunate situation to put the studios and exhibitors in, yet studios had no answers or solutions to these re-closures.
Ann Sarnoff, CEO of Warner Bros. said, “We’re big fans of the exhibitors. They’ve been good partners of ours for many decades. We’re rooting for them. I know it’s tough sledding right now. I’m hoping they come out on the other side, probably even stronger.”
“We’re rooting for them” is the equivalent of a pat on the back, thinking your boss cares about you when they couldn’t give a damn who you are and what your financial situation looks like. It’s as ill-timed of a comment as Patty Jenkins saying that “it feels totally possible” that Wonder Woman 1984 can indeed come out on Christmas Day while more theaters are shutting down. When a movie studio as powerful as Disney, bathing in billions of dollars, can help out theaters by financially aiding them, but decided to focus on streaming instead, you can’t help but wonder why. Disney’s not ruling out theaters entirely, but they aren’t clearly helping them by publically saying they’ll focus on creating content for Disney+.
While prominent filmmakers are currently begging Congress to “save movie theaters,”and studios have the power to financially guarantee their future, what’s preventing them from doing so? Government responses on aiding the cultural sector, in particular movie theaters, have also been extremely lacking in any form of support. Our leaders have the power to ensure their future, but would rather encourage moviegoers to visit them instead of taking massive steps to support the cultural sector. United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has the power to give incentives to cinemas, urges people to “go back to the cinema,” yet does nothing else to encourage their survival. Québec cultural minister Nathalie Roy presents a bailout plan for the province’s cultural sector worth 50 million dollars, announcing it will reimburse 75% of tickets sold in theaters and museums, but nothing for cinemas. According to CEO Vincenzo Guzzo of Cinémas Guzzo, the government treats the movie theater industry as the “least loved children of the cultural industry,” putting them on the same pedestal as bars and restaurants.
The theater industry in the United States and other parts of the world are at risk of closing down for good. Studios are doing nothing about it, yet they have the resources and the financial ability to help and show their support. Their solution during the last eight months has been to play a game of will they/won’t they by announcing new release dates for films every three months and patting theaters on the back, without concretely helping them. What signal does that give exhibitors who are pouring their heart and soul into making the safest possible experience for moviegoers and are in desperate need of financial aid?
Of course, putting tentpole movies on streaming services does cinemas more harm than good. Studios are removing the made-for-cinemas content to present them directly to the consumer. Of course, it’s a safe alternative to unnecessarily risking your health to go to the movies during a pandemic and it’s absolutely understandable that studios would want to do this, giving consumers content to stream directly in their homes. However, this supposed ultimatum of “direct-to-streaming or only in theaters, but not both” is putting cinemas (and film distribution) in a bigger rabbit hole. Why not both? Studios need to realize that the old model of “theatrical exhibition” is over, and the quicker they realize it, the faster they can innovate to bring content directly to the consumer or offer a “hybrid” approach of theatrical/VOD release a two to three weeks after its run in cinemas, like what Netflix is doing.
The Hollywood Majors seem to think that it’s one or the other, but it shouldn’t be. Releasing (and marketing) a movie as an “only in theaters” experience during a pandemic and then making the audience feel bad about not wanting to see their product in cinemas because of health reasons is not a viable strategy to draw consumers in. TENET was made to be experienced in IMAX. Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography looks amazing on those screens and the sheer ambition of the (muffled and extremely loud) climax on a gargantuan screen felt like an out-of-body experience, yet most audiences will not experience it this way, due to the current state of the pandemic. Christopher Nolan’s (and Warner Bros.) reactionary attitude towards moviegoing, not adapting with the current trends of the new decade and thinking film exhibition will always stay the same is the wrong choice.
Film studios not only need to adjust to the pandemic’s challenges and accept the fact that everything will not return to normal until a safe and effective vaccine is distributed, but innovate (and experiment, dammit!) on new ways to release movies that would both benefit moviegoers and cinemas. The pandemic has taught us that film distribution will never be the same and that the “old ways” of exhibiting film are no longer. It should be time to not only show support for theaters that are in desperate need of financial aid by substantially helping them instead of showing movies nobody wants to see in theaters like The Empty Man or The War with Grandpa, but not be afraid to try the option of releasing a tentpole film in theaters and on-demand at the same time. It’s a win-win situation for theaters who can draw in customers that want to see the film on the big screen, people that would rather stay home, and studios who’ll make money no matter what. It’s a grim reality to accept, that theatrical exhibition will no longer be the same post-COVID, but studios will need to accept it someday if they want to continue distributing films and make a profit out of it.
