How the Coronavirus has impacted the Film Industry and my film consumption
I haven’t been to see a film in a theater in a week and I’m starting to go insane. I go to the theater at least two times a week and it’s almost like therapy for me. I go to a theater, get some popcorn and a drink if I feel like spending the money, I get to sit in a nice chair and see a film.
Even if the film is terrible, like “Cats,” I still enjoy the experience because only in a theater can I shut down my phone and not worry about what’s going on outside. However, with the coronavirus pandemic, I have been quarantining myself. I haven’t been outside that much and I have been cautious about what I do.
My school has been put on extended break until March 22 and I will have to do online classwork for the remainder of the semester.
Movie theaters have either shut down or have been showing limited screenings with smaller audiences. AMCs across the country have shut down and my AMC A-List membership is on hold, which I legitimately appreciate.
Because of this, many films like “A Quiet Place Part II,” “No Time To Die,” “Mulan” and “The New Mutants” have had their release dates pushed back until the situation has improved. This is a smart move because many of these films have large budgets and the studios behind them need to make money. It’s clear that all industries are being negatively affected by this pandemic.
However, one studio that has suffered greatly is Universal who had several films, like “The Invisible Man,” “The Hunt” and “Emma,” come out within the past few weeks. Because of the lack of people leaving their homes this past week, Universal has released all of these films for at-home viewing. All of these films are currently on Amazon Prime Video to buy and, in April, “Trolls: World Tour” will have the same treatment.
This has caused a level of comfortable uncomfortability within me that needs to be addressed. So let’s look at the pros and cons of this.
First of all, this is a good idea because it allows the film studio to keep business going. Because film, while an art form and method of expression, is a business. All of the aforementioned films cost millions of dollars to make and it doesn’t seem right to let the film make no money even though actors, filmmakers and studios put so much effort into it. This method, along with Screeners DVDs, also gives people who review films professionally a way to do their job without risking infection.
However, and this might be paranoia talking, I still distrust this method because I fear that this could cause people to say “I want films to go straight to home media first instead of going to a movie theater.” Films were made to be shown on a large screen for a crowd of people and it should be kept that way. However, I am aware that other inventions, such as television, VHS and Netflix, were rumoured to destroy film and movie theaters. Of course, films never went away and actually improved.
If not for the invention of the television, films would never have gotten more spectacular and we would have never gotten epics like “Cleopatra,” Ben Hur” or “The Ten Commandments.” VHS gave birth to rental stores, for which I have fond nostalgia, as well as shaped my love of film as a toddler. And Netflix gave me some of my favorite shows and films of last year including “Stranger Things,” “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story” and “Dolemite is my Name.”
I guess the point of this post was to let you know two things.
That you can still experience new films during this trying time.
When this is over, GO TO THE MOVIES!
