Artman

Not sure if they'll be back, my point (which I felt was obvious) is that movie going habits aren't likely to be much different over the course of a few months, so the longer push made sense.

Decker

Kind of Surprised that West Side Story was moved a whole year. Thought they would try to get in before the extended 2020 Oscar eligibility period. Maybe the way that movie production has ground to a halt, maybe they figure the Oscar chances might be higher in the 2021 period instead.

DJariya

I’m not very optimistic that we’re going to get No Time to Die in November. Covid infections have been rising in Europe, including the UK. And the UK is a very important market for this movie. On the plus side, I heard the movie is completely paid for out of Barbara Broccoli’s own pocket, so it’s not going to be accumulating interest should MGM have to postpone it yet again. But if UK and European theatres have to close again, then this movie will pretty much certainly get postponed.

asianxcore

More theaters in Northern California opened recently, some in Counties that just moved from Purple Tier to Red Tier a few weeks back.

DJariya

https://deadline.com/2020/09/san-fra...19-1234588395/

San Francisco movie theaters will be allowed to reopen on October 7th. But, no concessions can be sold for the time being.

tanman

Just because they're open doesn't mean people are going. As much as I love going to the movies. Skipping them is a pretty easy decision. It's impossible to skip going to the doctor or grocery shopping and a lot more difficult to stay away from family gatherings like weddings and parties. But movies? I sometimes feel like I'm one of the only ones that still cares about seeing a movie in a theater. I think most of the population has no problem skipping the theater.

dex14

Any theatre that opens, it is just a matter of time before they cut back hours and scale back days. All the ones around me that reopened around Labor Day have stopped opening until after 4pm during the week. On the weekend, some are opening around 1 or 2, but most still after 4. I think it’s inevitable that they will close again for the fact that it cost more to open and operate than it does to stay closed and there are no big studio movies.

jpcamb

one of the newer independent theaters reopened for Tennant and has now decided to abruptly close again. They sent an email last night they would be closing.. last night "indefinitely." Both my son and his girlfriend work there but have barely got a shift and people have not been showing up for shows, for the most part, it's been empty theaters.

dex14

Yea... two independent theatres in my area (owned by the same family) announced they are selling. They just can’t do it anymore. They never reopened because operating at 25% was not worth it.

Jay G.

Well, maybe a former Doctor Who actor wasn't as huge a draw as they hoped.

You probably mean TENET.

DJariya

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/co...NmxVFErlwSWgzc

Movie theatres can reopen in North Carolina at 30 percent capacity.

asianxcore

Though I have been going to the local Drive-In Theaters on & off during the pandemic, I went to see Tenet in an actual theater last month.

Even though the staff did a fantastic job with all the changes that needed to be made, I still find myself not easily swayed to return.

Since then quite a few theaters have re-opened in my area but as mentioned by other posters, who knows how long they'll be able to stay open with such limited capacity and empty screenings.

rocket1312

The small theater down the road from me was open for about a week before they bailed. The bigger chains are still open, but there's no new movies and the window for shows is only about 4pm-8pm. I usually go at 9pm after my kids are in bed, so I haven't been since seeing Tenet.

WTK

https://variety.com/2020/film/global...ond-1234791728

Cineworld is shuttering all 543 of its Regal Cinema venues in the U.S. and 128 of its cinemas across the U.K. and Ireland this coming week, just days after James Bond film “No Time to Die” was pushed to April 2021.

dex14

Not surprising. The writing is on the wall.

DJariya

Not surprising, especially with Bond moving to 2021. They would be dead if they continued to stay open playing only low budget Indie movies and exhausting Tenet with hardly anyone in there.

AMC should probably do the same, but there's a report that they will be completely out of cash in 6 months.

I think the remainder of the "big" releases are a complete wash now. Everything else like WW84 will almost certainly move to 2021.

story

It sucks. It really, really, really sucks. And it's not fair, in no way whatsoever is it fair. And... I absolutely do not feel safe at all going to the movies. I just don't. I want to so bad, but I don't.

This is essentially how I feel about everything struggling right now. I want to be there. It is not safe for me. I'm not going. It sucks.

dvdjunkie32

Is there anything else big at this point? As much as I hate it, I'm starting to accept the reality that covid is going to shape a new kind of future including the way we get our entertainment.

Decker

Does that mean permanently closed or shut down until next year?

DJariya

No, they are not going out of business. They are losing more money staying open especially paying employees and utilities. It's understandable. All the new movies that would bring in new business and repeat business, especially Bond are off the calendar. You can't pay the bills playing Tenet for 4 months and playing Indie movies and movies from the 80s to stay open.

candyrocket786

Who knows....

My guess is that it will be permanent unless they find some big money to bail them out.

dex14

“Sources indicate a reopening date hasn’t yet been set, but cinemas could stay closed until 2021.”

DJariya

Soul from Pixar and Wonder Woman 1984 and Dune are not off the calendar yet. However, the chances of them staying are looking grim.

There's no really viable option for 1st run big budget movies. Most people don't want to pay big money to stream at home. They want it as cheap as possible. You simply cannot put out the new James Bond movie on VOD at $20 to 30 and expect people to support it. And you lose so much money when people will invite friends to share it and such and not paying for it. The studios did a roundtable about this a year ago and they already did the math. Streaming is not financially viable to support 1st run movies.

No Time to Die cost roughly $250M to make not counting another $200-300M in marketing costs. There's no way in hell it can make $700-800M in iTunes/Vudu rental sales. No streaming movie has ever made anything close to that.

Josh-da-man

That's probably optimistic.

The rest of this year is a wash.

Maybe we'll get a vaccine in 2021 if we're lucky. But even if we get a vax, it's going to be months and months before we get enough people vaccinated.

I think the absolute earliest we'll be looking at for reopening everything (and theaters will probably be the last thing that can safely reopen) is the second half of 2021.

DJariya

75 percent of theatres were or approved to open in the U.S. Only the big cities were closed. Some people were going, but Cineworld just determined it wasn’t worth it to stay open with the low attendance and studios scared to release new movies. It’s costing more to stay open.

No matter how much promotion they gave saying it’s an improved and cleaner environment, there’s a large portion of people who simply don’t trust them. I’ve seen the improvements the 4 times I went. But I know there’s many who won't take that chance with large families and underlying health issues. And I get it. Going to movies isn't a priority for many, especially in a pandemic. So I can't fault people who refuse to go.

As of right now, we don't know if this news will have a ripple effect with Cinemark and AMC who are the other two notable big chains. I know AMC is trying their best to stay open.