New photos.
2 Likes
Tenet will be one of the first films released by WB when cinemas release - the date is fluid, but not the format.
1 Like
I believe them - I just think it may be some time until they can indeed count on people returning to theatres. What theatres will be left by then.
2 Likes
I agree - next summer at the earliest imho
The thing is, this entire gig economy thatās supposedly so vibrant and powerful and entrepreneurial, and producing so much growth and jobs upon jobsā¦thatās absolutely not built on the idea of having stashed away huge sums of cash for bad times.
Actually, itās built entirely on cheap money, on business loans with relatively little interest rates. But if you donāt happen to do any business for a time even the lowest rates wonāt help much. How cinemas (and restaurants, bars, bistros, cafes ect.) are supposed to survive when they have close to zero customers is beyond me.
I could imagine a small privately owned independent cinema run by some true devoted cineaste in a building that belongs to her or him, and with a small staff of students who effectively earn pocket money - but that model will certainly be a rare exception in todayās economy where everything down to the towels in the rest rooms is leased.
The average of cinemas in most countries in the US and Europe will probably have to close shop for good far sooner when they miss out on months of blockbuster business. They are operating huge complexes usually in expensive parts of their respective towns and rent and housekeeping alone must cost a small fortune. How they are supposed to take off again with their business after six or nine months - or a year - of lying dormant is hard to see. At least not if that part of the industry isnāt bailed out too. And you can bet thatās not going to happen everywhere, simply because some countries canāt afford it on top of everything else they have to juggle.
2 Likes
The studios want VOD. The audiences want VOD. The cinemas donāt and directors clinging to an idea that makes them popular with cinema owners claim they donāt.
But itās coming, definitely.
2 Likes
Would VOD be cheaper than cinema tickets? I donāt go to the cinema unless I really want to see the film because of the prices.
1 Like
VOD initially will probably be more expensive to make up for multiple viewers on one ticket. After a period, say, a few weeks it could turn cheaper. But you could imagine a number of possible pricing models, a premium subscription or varying prices by time of day even. Why not kick off a Tuesday evening small price offer or a Saturday matinee?
However it ends up on the market, Iām sure there is already a host of studio executives forging plans to migrate the lionās share of the business over to streaming. And the traditional streaming services will try to cut out their own piece of the action.
2 Likes
The Tenet related headline is burying the lead, as it is very much National Association of Theatre Ownersā CEO John Fithian talking about what theatres are planning to do so as to safely entice audiences back whenever they re-open.
Personally think heās being optimistic that July will be that point, but it is what it is.
It is absurd to open cinemas and release a movie in this situation.
Warner Bros. will secretly moan and ache why they have to play along with this when they actually would like to stop this.
I predict that in June this release will be pulled.
It will only be pulled if governments donāt allow US cinemas to open in July - this and Mulan were purposeful moves to appease cinema owners (particularly Tenet, with Nolan and his purist stance on the cinema experience. Heās got a genuine concern for that side of the industryā¦)
1 Like
I donāt doubt Nolan is invested in the topic, and rightfully so. But would this be his choice now?
Even if weāre optimistic about the longer run in theatres, multiplying the screens, maybe even doing some kind of āprivate boxā refurbishing if at all possible. The fact probably remains that the box office will at best be muted. The theatre experience is unique - but may become so even more this summer.
We are talking about a huge number of ordinary joes and janes who will not feel comfortable going to a cinema, regardless if that is now managed to avoid human interaction and pronounced āsafeā by whatever authority.
Sure, some may just recover from their sex-on-the-bleach cocktails and decide to do it in a dark and cozy space like a see-through body bag - but the vast majority will want to watch the film, any film, not in a setting that reminds them even more how much that cinema experience has changed.
2 Likes
Thereās mixed evidence supporting both sides of your (great) point. The industry certainly doesnāt think āthe vast majorityā will avoid until the world truly returns to normal - though itās possible they just canāt afford to think that. Otherwise, the entire industry is goneā¦ Thatās the dilemma really at the centre of this.
If Tenet and Mulan move - major chain cinemas might as well not open until WW84 in August. Unless that moves. Which means probably, with Venom in October out of the way and only things of note on the calendar being Candyman and A Quiet Place 2ā¦ the next Mulan/Tenet moment that can generate momentum is November with Black Widow and NTTD. But can cinemas survive being closed for that long?
1 Like
I believe Dustin nails the central concern. The act of going to the movies is now accompanied by a new calculation: how much danger am I exposing myself to by doing this? Whether it is arthouse fare or the latest franchise installment, movies have always offered escape/transport to another world. But such escape/transport is compromised (if not negated) if a real world fear must be dealt with
At the beginning of the AIDS crisis, Essex Hemphill, the great queer Black poet, wrote:
āNow we think
as we fuck
this nut might kill.
this kiss could turn
to stone.ā
Full poem at: Quote by Essex Hemphill: āNow We Think Now we think as we fuck this nut...ā
Hemphill captured how we all feltādespite safer sex practices, we still did not know if we were actually safe (and HIV was/is more difficult to transmit than the novel coronavirus). The theatrical experience apostrophed by Nolan and others is unobtainable until a vaccine or proven therapies exist.
4 Likes
Iām no Nolan fan, I think heās pretentious, and I see that again in his myopic determination to give his film a theatrical release instead of giving it to a streaming service. See also Phoebe Waller-Bridgeās stated ambition to have a cinema release of any future film she may write instead of a digital one.
Iām just going to crawl under this table for a whileā¦
Speaking of stats for Dustinās pointā¦hereās the latest
1 Like
Differentā¦ish note;
The pieces above, as well as talking about Tenet, mention filling the cinema with āclassic films from the libraryā
So what films would people like to see in cinemas?
Iād put forward most of the works of Fritz Lang, in particular M, Metropolis and Fury - films that still remain massively influential.
1 Like
Most people?
Try āSmokey and the banditā.
Just so wonderfully put I had to highlight this again. 