Box Office Breaking Down…. The Impact Of COVID-19! Shifting Release Dates! And More!

Box Office Breaking Down….

I hope you box office junkies are all staying healthy and safe. In light of the state of the country right now, let’s break down the impact of COVID-19 on the movie industry.

Effective March 17th, both AMC and Regal closed all U.S. theaters, which totals over 1,200 between the two of them, for at least six to 12 weeks. In addition, all the major distributors have been forced to move their upcoming releases, leaving us movie goers with a blank theatrical scenario ahead.

Shifting release dates included titles such as:

The next James Bond film, No Time to Die, from April 10th to November 8th.
A Quiet Place Part II from this weekend to an unspecified future release.
Mulan, The New Mutants, Antlers, Marvel’s Black Widow, The Personal History of David Copperfield and The Woman in the Window have all been moved to unspecified dates.

Lastly, Universal moved Fast 9 out an entire year and Sony shifted Peter Rabbit 2 from April to an August release.

The box office closures in China have cost box office sales of at least $2 billion. However, China is starting to lay out a plan for the re-opening of cinema.
While you’re stuck indoors, you can still rent some new releases such as The Hunt, The Invisible Man, Onward, and Emma , which are now available On Demand for the low price of $19.99.

All of these factors could change the future of the movie industry forever. When theaters open again, will streaming theatrical releases the same day they hit theaters become the new normal? Since that option is now a viable and possibly very lucrative one, studios may start choosing which films they give that three-month theatrical window to and which ones they send directly to in-home release.

Share your thoughts below in the comments.

Until next time, happy movie watching at home!