MOvaries are back! Or so we thought back in 2021, when after a year of closed cinemas, it seemed like a dormant industry was coming back to life. Last spring, Godzilla vs. Kong hit the pandemic’s first real hit, and soon led to A Quiet Place Part II, F9, Black Widow and Free Cow, many of them less than initial expectations but still enough to encourage The studio built over that, despite previous fears, was not going the way of the Cinema Video Store.
Ended the year with the biggest hits of them all, Spider-Man: No Way Home, a record-breaker regardless of release date, has already raked in over $1.3 billion globally in less than a month and has the potential to be one of the most successful films of all time. But beneath the title was some troubling bad news — surprise flops, security concerns from older theaters, a change in release strategy — and now, with the start of 2022, history is on the verge of repeating itself.
While January has long been seen as a dumping ground in the US, pandemic or not, Spider-Man’s success was seen as a sign that audiences should be risking an Omicron infection to watch a movie. were prepared and therefore a more robust opening year was potentially anticipated. As the year drew to a close, campaigns for a January release intensified – Jessica Chastain-led action delayed 355, the much-anticipated return of Scream, Sony’s Jared Leto-starring Marvel horror Morbius – but at the same time, Covid rates soared and the country’s biggest markets, New York and Los Angeles, showed signs of a return to an initial pandemic state. Restaurants and bars began to close, most Broadway shows took a hiatus (with some closing permanently), live TV shows were canceled or hosts changed. While filming is halted at others, premieres and press tours changed (355 star Lupita Nyong’o) dropped out of the interview after a positive result while next week’s scream premiere nixed), award shows like Grammy And the Critics’ Choice Awards were postponed and life as usual suddenly began to crumble.
Then this week, Sony decided to move Morbius, an understandable but worrying sign for the near future, with January’s biggest bet going through April. this is seventh The change in release date for Vampire Scientist Adventure, originally scheduled for July 2020, marks the first major COVID-affected film of the year. A day later, the Celine Dion-inspired biopic Aline also announced a shift from January to spring at an unspecified date. In the UK, Universal is were taken Joe Wright’s Cyrano a month ago. Separately, this month’s Sundance – the most influential American film festival of the year – has decided to cancel its physical component out of security fears. Cinemas in the US remain open, with either masks or vaccinations mandatory for most states, but in other countries, shuttering has begun once again. The Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and parts of Canada have already implemented shutdowns with other regions expected to follow.
But in 2021 red flags were flying down. The monstrous success of Spider-Man helped the paper crack a tremendous final quarter at the box office. Long-awaited sequel The Matrix Resurrection, a wonderfully reviewed remake of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Guillermo del Toro’s star noir Nightmare Alley, Denzel Washington’s sappy romance A Journal for Jordan, action prequel The King’s Man, video games The reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, the formulaic tennis biopic King Richard, Edgar Wright’s throwback thriller Last Night in Soho, Ridley Scott’s historical drama The Last Duel and the much-maligned musical darling Evan Hansen were just a few of the many major flops. Of course, there are plenty of reasons these films might struggle (from franchise fatigue to Ben Platt), but the throughline was clear: some viewers were still reluctant to return to multiplexes.
The overall picture is still blurry. The US box office in 2021 was down 60% from 2019. Spider-Man totaling $300m more than second place film of the year (also, ya know, a spider man movie, a December survey showed that cinema halls aged 45 to 64 were still concerned about safety, resulting in 39% less likely to see a film. Of course, there’s another important reason why some people may be less thrilled at the prospect of an expensive night out at the movies. The pandemic forced studios to be more dynamic than ever, pushing theatrical films to digital platforms with unusual speed, demanding either rental costs of more than $20, selling them to Netflix or Amazon or consumers. Used conditions to redirect to in-house. Streaming platforms like Disney+ or HBO Max. That meant unprecedented day-to-room access to major movies like Dune, Black Widow, Halloween Kills and The Matrix Resurrection, a new normal that seemed impossible in 2019.
It was a short-term solution that could turn into a long-term problem. Even pre-pandemic, audiences were increasingly spoiled for choice, but the new speed at which they can watch new movies at home has changed habits and expectations in a way that Probably never will be before. UK last year The home entertainment market grew by a considerable 13% Whereas the August 2021 survey showed that Only 36% of US consumers say they will see most new movies in theaters from now on, Most of the biggest movies of awards season, like The Power of the Dog, Don’t Look Up, Being the Ricardos, The Lost Daughter, Coda, Tick, Tick… BOOM! And The Tragedy of Macbeth was all released to live streaming virtually (with a token two weeks of theatrical performances for some).
Even as American cinema was open for business, studios were already looking to the future. Universal’s much-anticipated romantic comedy Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, will be available on its in-house streaming platform Peacock, along with its theatrical release next month. WarnerMedia’s chief executive, Jason Keeler, announced last summer that 10 Warner Bros. movies will premiere this year exclusively on HBO Max. There have also been deals in the past two years that will narrow the theatrical-from-home window for movies going forward. This year, for example, The Batman will be available on HBO Max within 46 days of cinema launch, while this month, Universal’s new window deals — just 17 days for movies under $50 million and 31 for those. Days – It means 2 is already rented despite Sing earning money in theatres.
Whether the Morbius shift is a sign of what is to come remains to be seen. Sources have claimed that this could be a direct result of Spider-Man’s heroism. Following the success of the Venom series and with Spider-Man outperforming Spider-Man (it has already become Sony’s biggest hit to date), the studio may have developed a limited but profitable Marvel universe (based on select properties owned by Sony). ) is the latest attempt to expand. Wanted time to create more discussion. This week’s showing of The 355 (currently tracking to open) Only $6m in the US) and will help other studios decide what to do with Scream the Next February’s first wide release: Jackass Forever, a sequel to Lionsgate’s sci-fi thriller Moonfall and Paramount. For now the news is clear: Few viewers are willing to risk the cinema experience for certain films. Spider-Man may have found a home, but those who don’t have superpowers need a new way to proceed.