OldBoy

With everything going on, still going on, do you think we will see the blockbuster numbers we are used to seeing? i mean we are drooling over AQPII's $57 million OW over a 4-day weekend (Memorial Day weekend), for a critically reviewed, based on a highly critically reviewed first movie which was a financial success, a month into what is supposed to be of the summer blockbuster season, which i am not sure you can call them that since some of them stream same day on some services (mostly HBO Max for no extra fee), so that surely bites into BO.

not to mention chains closed up already. some possibly going, so, much less theaters has to have changed landscape already.

so will it ever be the same? few years away? year away?

TomOpus

Sure it will. Theaters that close due to pandemic will be taken over by other companies. Just wait until Top Gun and Bond opens. I have faith.

Artman

I think the unfortunate answer is no, because it's already changed - the 90 day theatrical window is all but over, smaller to mid range movies that were on the bubble of getting wide theatrical releases won't. And while it's good to see some solid opening wknd numbers, those will continue to be a bigger % of a film's overall gross. We might start to see the bigger films top out around 7-800 million instead of hitting the billion mark (as it looks like F9 is going to do), and I can't imagine another film ever hitting 2 billion again.

tanman

I think it will. Eventually. There's so much pent up demand for things like this and travel that I'm sure it will return to maybe 90% of what it was before. Unfortunately I believe it will accelerate trends that were already happening before the pandemic. So you'll just see more sequels and more existing guaranteed properties. Hollywood will become even less risk averse. What's more unknown is the area of same day streaming. Will that still happen? What percent of the profit of movies will that take? For me personally I'm afraid if that will push physically media further on the fringes.

story

Things will change, but I also think it's way too soon to call it. I do think there will be more $1B gross movies to come, just not for a while, either through a recovering industry, a recovering economy, or inflation, or all three.

RichC2

Yep. In about a year from now. Before the pandemic, A Quiet Place 2 was tracking at $60m over 3 days. It hit $48.8m over 3 days with many theaters still limiting capacity.

Of course it depends on how things play out with the rest of the pandemic but most signs point to yes.

d2cheer

Yes starting this summer.

movieguru

It's possible. I think it will take a lot of time, maybe a few years for it to recover. As others have mentioned, a good number of theaters have closed down. Others are limiting capacity. It may end up that may of the blockbuster type movies will stay in theaters longer than before and have much smaller opening weekends. High grossing movies may play out more like the Titanic did, getting a number of consistant $20 million weekend grosses rather than $80-$200 million weekends and up to $100Million+ second weekends.

More movies will possible be available for paid streaming earlier than ever before, so some of the theater grosses will be lower while the movies will be generating more revenue through streaming platforms. not only movies will be affected post Covid. Companies will realize that it is cheaper to have certain employees work from home rather than in a centralized office setting for example.

DJariya

During this time period, the movies that will likely get screwed are Indie movies or Mid-Level movies (like $20-30M budget)

Look at that new Billy Crystal comedy that came out about a month or so ago. No one fucking watched it.

Dr. DVD

I truly think that this slump will be felt for another year or so , or as long as they continue to put movies on streaming services 45 days after theatrical release. The people who may be the driving force of theatrical experiences could very well become lone viewers who find it more cost effective to see something in the theater for $10 (or if they get a plan like Regal Unlimited, $18 a month) than paying $20 to rent it at home, which I will admit is more cost effective if one has a large family or a several friends who want to watch a movie. What's kind of unfortunate is that this may mean the end of larger budgeted movies for some time, especially if the ones that got delayed for so long continue to underperform. Of course I don't know how studios tally streaming $$ or views on services, so maybe they will. Netflix is spending close to $200 million on an action movie that has Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot getting over $20 million each. so maybe for some it won't be a concern.

jpcamb

I think we are a solid year or so from seeing movies grossing close to what they did pre-pandemic. There are still a lot of first-world countries that are in lockdown and it will take time for people to be comfortable getting back to normal life even when vaccinated. I think we will see a return to normal but it's a least a year or more off but the crazy expensive budgets of Tennant are likely to be a rare thing outside of say, a Marvel movie that are a known money maker. I don't expect the new Blackwidow movie to make the same kind of money it would have a year plus back as its going to suffer a bit with lack of tension given we know this movie does not affect the forward timeline and its almost like nothing that happens in it will matter.

Toddarino

I think if/when studios decide to stop trying to torpedo the movie theaters and their own movies, that is when things can progress back to normal.

Bluelitespecial

I drove by my closest theater this afternoon and I think the parking lot was more than half full. It was easily the most cars I had seen there in more than a year. It was only one day and on the holiday weekend but I'd call it a good sign.

Draven

Nope. At-home viewing is here and way too convenient and less expensive. The box office will come back but nothing to the levels it was. I know I’ll be going to the theater a LOT less.

rexinnih

Yep, movies will get out lazy rears out of the house to do something.

AaronHernandez

In a non covid world that would have been a flop as well. I have no idea if the movie is good or not,but based on the trailer that look's like the type of formula for a "feel good" comedy from 20-25 years ago. No one but the most hardcore of Billy Crystal or Tiffany Haddish fan is gonna shell out 20-30$ at the theater for some Tuesdays with Morrieish thing