Fast & Furious 9, Mulan, A Quiet Place Part II and other movie delays will lose Hollywood billions of dollars. With the ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus (aka COVID-19) taking its toll globally, many large-scale measures regarding entertainment have been made.
One of the first major films to delay its release date was the 25th installment in the James Bond franchise, No Time to Die. The film announced that it was putting off the initial April release until November, much to the dismay of fans who have also endured a lengthy road to the film’s production. It was not long, however, before other films announced delays as well, with the likes of Fast & Furious 9, A Quiet Place Part II and Disney’s live-action adaptation of Mulan all having become the latest victims of rescheduled release dates. Add to this the huge number of theater closures around the world (in particular China, where 70,000 theaters have closed their doors to the public), as well as production “pauses” on franchise films such as Mission: Impossible 7 or Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and it becomes clear the coronavirus is having a massive effect on entertainment worldwide.
In fact, as things currently stand, the uncertainty that the viral pandemic is causing has already had a major financial impact on Hollywood. And, as the disease peaks in China yet continues to grow in Europe and North America, Hollywood studios are bracing for huge financial losses. According to a report from THR, the current financial cost on the global box office as a result of the coronavirus stands at $7 billion. If the disease continues to be a threat to the general public over the remainder of March as well as April and May, another $10 billion could be added to the current number. In total, $17 billion stands to be lost within the next two and half months. Beyond that, the hit to Hollywood will only continue to grow.
Aside from revenue lost due to box office closures, release date delays and franchise production pauses, Hollywood is also facing significant issues with its TV industry. A huge number of productions have already been shut down, though some remain resolute and have made the questionable decision to soldier on. However, it is the big film productions that will really have a profound effect on Hollywood’s profit margin. China has battled the virus for two and half months now, since first acknowledging its existence on December 31st. Though infections in the East Asian nation continue, the numbers have dropped astronomically from what they were even a month earlier. This offers hope not only for the health of citizens globally, but also for the entertainment industry. If the virus’ timeline can be mapped to roughly a three-month span, then it should be business as usual for Hollywood by the crucial summer movie season. At the same time, with countries like the U.S. arguably yet to experience the full impact of the pandemic, mapping out an exact timeline is left to conjecture at best.
As much as fans of franchises such as James Bond, Mission: Impossible or Fast & Furious want to see the next installment of their favorite series, the fact of the matter is that the health and well being of the general population is far more important. Hollywood has made the decision to recognize this by delaying releases and production, which ultimately bear significant costs. Unfortunately, coronavirus poses a financial burden for everyone – not just Hollywood, and it’s well worth recognizing that studios are resilient and will indeed bounce back.
Source: THR