- The movie business is still recovering and will continue for at least another year, if not more.
- Movie theaters face an alarming shortage of notable films for the rest of the year.
- Regal is considering filing for bankruptcy, raising questions about the number of screens it has in the US.
The movie business recovery during the pandemic was expected to be a marathon, not a sprint. But it’s taking longer than studio and theater executives probably wanted.
Studios haven’t released as many movies as they did pre-pandemic. Regal, one of the US’s largest theater chains, is considering filing for bankruptcy. Warner Bros., one of Hollywood’s five major studios, is still adjusting its release calendar as its new parent tries to cut costs.
After a promising summer at the box office led by “Top Gun: Maverick,” cinemas are facing a serious shortage of movies for the rest of the year. ” may not be released until November.
John Fishian, head of the National Association of Theater Owners, said he doesn’t expect film supply to return to pre-pandemic levels in another 12 to 18 months, and doesn’t expect it to be as early as the second half of 2023. told Insider.
Phisian is optimistic. “When the movie comes out, the movie fans will come.”
Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick”.
paramount pictures
In certain movies, it’s true. “Maverick” makes nearly $700 million in the US alone. Other franchise big titles such as “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Jurassic World: Dominion” also performed well. The indie hit song “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is impressive.
But from ‘Ambulance’ to ‘Shinkansen’ to ‘The Norseman’, most mid-budget, unfranchised dramas and action movies are still far from finished.
Physian pointed to two reasons for being bullish about film supplies in the long term. A) new company Warner Bros. Discovery’s stated commitment to cinemas, a dramatic shift away from streaming-focused WarnerMedia; We remain optimistic that the streaming-first company is looking at a stronger theatrical release.
But for the time being, Warner Bros. has a lot to figure out. The studio has postponed ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ from March 2023 to December 2023 (again) and ‘Shazam! Wrath of the Gods’ from this December to March.
The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Warner Bros. Discovery wants to spread out the marketing and distribution costs associated with the release of the film. That means he has only two more movies coming out for Warner Bros. this year. September’s ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and he’s October’s ‘Black Adam’.
As for streaming companies getting into the theater business in a more prominent way, Fithian expects it to happen for another 12 to 18 months, even though cinema owners have been pushing the issue for some time. I didn’t predict.
“It’s going to take a while, but our general feeling is that we’ll be able to release more movies to theaters from companies that haven’t done theatrical releases before,” said Physian. .
Brad Pitt in “Shinkansen”.
Sony
Meanwhile, analysts at Wall Street firm MoffettNathanson predict that the U.S. box office will end the year at $7.9 billion, “growing only modestly to $8.5 billion in 2023, down 26% from 2019.” is also declining.”
The bottom line: Despite reasons for optimism in the first half of this year, the film industry is still in hard reset mode and could continue through 2023 and even into 2024.
In the short term, Regal, the cinema chain owned by Cineworld, the world’s second-largest theater operator, said this week it was considering filing for bankruptcy as a strategic option given its limited number of films. Stated.
This may be a Regal specific issue. But it highlights the bigger issues facing the theater and film industry, such as whether there are too many screens in cinemas for the current audience’s desires.
There are approximately 40,700 movie screens in the United States. The number hasn’t changed much since his 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
Matt Belloni said in Puck’s newsletter, “What I’m Hearing on Sunday.” You can get away with a nasty lease.”
MoffettNathanson’s analyst wrote similarly: