“No Time to Die”, “Fast and Furious 9”, “A Quiet Place Part II”, all stands cancelled amidst this global pandemic. Theatres are closed, cinema halls are shut down, festivals have been cancelled, and film releases have been postponed indefinitely. The global box office has dropped by billions of dollars and stocks of film exhibitors have declined dramatically. The whole production is at halt waiting for this abominable phase to pass.
Bobette Buster, a professor of the practice of Digital Storytelling at the Northeastern University provides an insight into the impact on the Hollywood film industry due to coronavirus pandemic. She asserts that it will transform the way we watch movies. Home streaming of theatre releases including “The Invisible Man” and “Emma” by Universal Pictures for $19.99 per movie is the new trend dawning. Although it is aimed at filling the gap, this is a period of huge revenue loss for the whole industry which will affect their operations even when the situation gets normal. Its ripple effects will be evident in future projects and releases. More films will be made for streaming which involves an implicit advertising cost.
This pandemic will have a long-lasting impact on indie films. Gobs of low budget films will be struggling as their success or failure is largely dependent on their exposure and recipience at film festivals, many of which have been postponed or cancelled. It is a tough time for filmmakers as a major part of their costs will remain unrecovered. In this phase, stupendous films such as ‘Parasite’ which won four Oscars will fail to get recognition too.
This shrinkage will soon be countered by the film industry. They will come back with a renewed business model and rule out all the odds as they did in 1962. We still love to go out and watch movies with our friends and family and that moment will come back soon.
Kriti Vishwakarma