Studios are slowly giving up on 2020 and finally accepting the reality that it’s going to be next to impossible to open their films wide.
John Krasinski‘s A Quiet Place Part II was one of the first major movies affected by the pandemic, forcing Paramount Pictures to pull it from release just a week before its March 20 date. The studio quickly grabbed a new date, promising a theatrical release this coming Labor Day Weekend. It was hopeful, at best, with many believing the country would have things under control by the end of summer. Unfortunately, it’s way worse than anyone could have anticipated with no sign of things turning around. With that, A Quiet Place Part II has been bumped all the way to April 23, 2021, a full year after initially set for release.
Warner Bros. finally giving in and removing Tenet from the schedule is the first domino to drop and many others are quickly following suit, with Orion announcing this morning a SVOD and limited theatrical release for Bill & Ted Face the Music. Is Candyman, now slated for Oct. 16, next?
While some films may find their way to SVOD (like Bill & Ted), more expensive projects rely on the theatrical release in order to recoup their investment. Delaying is the only option as no studio is going to spend tens-to-hundreds of millions marketing a movie they aren’t even sure will get released. And with that, they sure as hell aren’t going to release a film in theaters when only a portion of seats can be sold. I’ve been saying this since day one and without an ounce of arrogance, 2020 is canceled and we have to accept that.
Thankfully, horror is hotter than ever and VOD has been more than good to us. Let’s see what the second half of the year has to offer…