When the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2021 there were many who hoped it would be the end of all the bad news 2020 brought and things might start to get back to normal. Sadly it doesn’t work like that. Coronavirus cases are at an all time high, countries are in lockdowns, the virus is mutating and even with a vaccine out there are still reports of COVID variants that might not be vaccine receptive. It’s going to be a while before we get back to the normal we knew of 2019. Going to concerts, festivals, vacations, all of that will still be hindered by this virus.
One thing fans really want more than anything is to get back to packed movie theaters. While some cinemas are still open, many are closed and studios are once again delaying films that have already been delayed once, twice and even three times. Sony and MGM both announced a slew of delays including
- Morbius – January 2022
- No Time to Die – October 8, 2021
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife – November 11, 2021
- Uncharted – February 11, 2022
There are reports Disney and Marvel might delay Black Widow again and rumors that Spider-Man 3 might be delayed despite it not coming out until December. What other movies will delayed even more?
Warner Media was the first to bite the bullet and see what was to come in 2021, that things are not going to get much better. Rather than continue to push movie after movie further down the line they did the next best thing. They adopted the hybrid release of theatrical and HBO Max (for 30 days). This allows people who still want to see the movie in theaters to do so and for HBO Max subscribers to see if from the comfort of their home.
Streaming is the future whether or not people want to believe it. Netflix is releasing over 7o movies this year and those films are coming from some of Hollywood’s biggest names such as Dwayne Johnson, Octavia Spencer, Gal Gadot, Jamie King, and Ryan Reynolds. MGM has tried to sale No Time to Die to a streaming service but no one wants to pay $600 million for the rights to it. So it is not like MGM has not tried to push their film off to streaming and forgo the theatrical release. How much money are studios losing by not releasing the films? The HBO Max release plan was met with backlash by several actors and directors but that was due to WB’s lack of transparency with the talent. If Disney, Sony, MGM and others went to their talent and worked something out, I think this could be a win win for 2021.
I am all for a theatrical release and I cannot wait to get back into the movie theater. Streaming will not be the death of movie theaters but more studios should embrace it and know that it is not going anywhere. Big time blockbuster films like Avengers: Endgame were made for theaters but does Morbius really need to be seen in a theater? Does Peter Rabbit 2 need to be seen in a theater? Those are movies Sony could leverage with a streaming service for a nice return.
They delayed Wonder Woman 1984 so much that by the time it dropped on HBO Max, there was little interest in it on my part. The same can be said about No Time To Die. Just release it already!
Do you agree or disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts on this so drop a comment below.
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