In Los Angeles, any movie theater that was open was ordered to close. None of the major chains were open though.

New York/New Jersey aren't even considering opening theaters until stage 4 of their phased re-opening.

Texas is a complete disaster along with Florida.

Without the major chains in these states opening theaters, they simply cannot release big tentpole movies like Tenet, Wonder Woman 1984, Mulan, A Quiet Place 2 etc.

And no don't say, well they could just release it to PVOD and it could make hundreds of millions of dollars. That theory has been debunked by the studios. These kinds of movies would lose massive amounts of money. They need theatrical revenue. If these movies can't be released here, then Canada, the UK, Asia South America won't get them either and that's lost revenue.


I know this is a pretty draconian hypothetical, but seriously how would you feel if all the major theatrical releases are cancelled for the rest of 2020 because this fucking virus isn't getting any better?

That would totally suck.

And what would suck even more is the fact that we have to take these kind of precautions because of a bunch if a-holes who are more concerned with not having to wear masks than they are the well being of the people around them. Selfish pricks!

I really miss going to the theater to watch movies. The next 18 months is going to be interesting (so many movies delayed a year or more, a lot of productions delayed - it's a mess).

Another thing to consider. If all these new releases are cancelled for the remainder of the year, home video (streaming, DVD and BD) will dry up. Hell right now on upcoming Amazon new releases, there are no major studio new releases. It's all old catalog content and TV.

Even for those who hate going to the theatre, you're not going to have any of these new movies to watch this year, even at home.

I can wait for most major releases that were scheduled this year but I'm scared for the movie theaters in my area. The one independent theater in town is doing fine show old movies but my local chain called B&B theaters needs new movies to come out for their business to survive. They are also showing older movies but are only open four days a week while doing limited showtimes.

Yeah the small Indie or mid-sized chains are going to die without new movies. There's only so many people who would be willing to see ET, Back to the Future or Ghostbusters. Theatres, even the small chains and super savers, need new movies.

Yeah, they'll have to get creative.. our local arthouse started renting their theaters out for private use. Any movie vhs/blu/4k/digital or gaming for you and your closest friends.

They still serve food and beer. At about $100, they sold out with some 200+ reservations pretty quickly.

I saw Ghostbusters on the Big Screen this past Sunday in the afternoon and had a great experience and felt perfectly fine with enhanced cleaning measures. I'll probably keep going back every weekend to see one of the older movies they are showing as they need the business.

I mean it’s been four months already. Could see it going longer still so yes it would suck, but it also won’t be a huge surprise.

As someone in the industry, I'm sure the studios have already written this year off, holding everything back to have something for next year seems like a logical move as they have to stockpile what they have since productions can't restart 100%. It sucks, but everyone's slate has to be moved back at least a year as productions all play catch up...

I think I saw something like a hundred movies at a cinema last year, going damn near every Friday night as well as other times during each month.

It would definitely suck if there were no new releases this year, but I'd survive (literally), and honestly probably wouldn't even go if there was. It just isn't worth it now.

By the time Wonder Woman 1984 comes out 80s nostalgia is going to be really passe.

Going to be? We were past that point over a year ago.

Pushing it to 2021 doesn't bother me at all - I wasn't going to watch in the theatres anyway. But I guess that means it gets delayed on streaming services then.
I'd be happy if they just released to streaming services from now on and bailed on movie theatres. Not going to step foot in a theatre ever again.

The only thing I’m really looking forward to is Dune but even that’s something I’ll have on Blu-ray anyways and rewatch it that way in the future.

Looking at the way the country is going, nothing major is coming out in 2020. Already resigned myself to that. Ah well, plenty of other stuff to watch.

you don’t think the newest Tom Cruise movie or the sequel to an $800M blockbuster are major?

I know our hands are tied due to the virus. But this is pretty devastating to the people who worked so hard to make them.

If movies can’t get released, so money is made, future projects will be delayed indefinitely and these guys won’t have jobs. It’s a terrible spot.

I think he’s just referring to the fact that it’s highly unlikely we’ll be watching movies in theaters for the rest of the year. Not that those movies aren’t big blockbusters. With things getting worse rather then better I’m starting to think that busy month of November releases is not going to happen either. I’m now hoping when/if they do open theaters they spread out the big releases. As mentioned, we’re really going to be hurting for content by this time next year. Movies and television. It’s all pretty dang depressing.

I dont mind if their cancelled. The only movies i was wanting to see this year were No Time To Die and Top Gun so its no big thing really. I never go to the theaters anymore anyways so I'd have to wait till next year to see them when they came out on disc. My backlog is almost 7,000 movies and shows so this gives me time to hopefully make a dent.

Yep, as Barth said, I mean they are going to keep kicking the can through 2020. Unless every theater is open at full capacity, it doesn't make sense to throw something like Top Gun out there to die.

Most of NY is several weeks into Phase 4 but movie theaters are still closed with no idea when they will re-open. With what's happening in the rest of the country I don't see them reopening any time soon.

I have plenty of stuff to watch at home and even if theaters reopened this fall/winter I'm not sure even BW, WW84 or No Time to Die would get me to go.

Yep. It’s sucks but I agree that we likely won’t see anything released in theaters the rest of the year, and who knows how long after that. Studios keep pushing things back like we’re really going to see movies this year. I’m not seeing it happening realistically.

A local independent theater posted this today on Facebook. I feel bad for them because they're trying to survive. Sounds a little ominous, though.

According to a few news articles starting to pop up, getting back to the normal were used to won’t be here until Summer 2022. Which is fine with me. I’ll go then.

Let’s see who’s still around then I guess.

I've got so much stuff to watch they could never make another single movie and I'd be fine. Seems like for all the time theaters have been closed, they could be working on renovating them to make sure they're at their absolute best when they re-open.

I agree with the first half of this but sadly, I already feel like I’m having trouble finding anything decent to watch (rent) at home.

Of course, there is a ton of content to watch but I tend to be fairly picky and usually enjoy watching new release movies on the weekend. There just isn’t that weekly selection that there was pre-COVID. I have plenty of series’ I can watch but sometimes I just feel like a movie.

By the time this is all over, no studio should hve anything left “sitting on the shelf”. Anything they have in the can should be released. I’m willing to pay $19 for a new release movie that I’m really interested in but not for something like The King of Staten Island or Trolls: World Tour.

I guess money grows on trees, as what revenue are they using to renovate them?