2020 was quite the barren year for movie studios and cinemas, a period which saw the delay of almost every single high profile film due to the strains of the pandemic. After months of waiting it was 007’sNo Time to Diethat put the final nail in the coffin back in early October.
Fast forward to 2021 and it looks like not much has changed for big blockbuster films since then, asJames Bond could again give the signalfor the rest of the industry to push back on their planned releases. So far every major movie studio has passed on the possibility of taking their big-budget films to the streaming avenue, with the exception of the movies distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures on HBO Max, something that remains unlikely to change for the time being.
RELATED:Highly-Anticipated Movies That Will (Hopefully) Be Out In 2021
All this is backed by recent information published byThe Hollywood Reporterwhich suggests most studio executives are already bracing for even more delays for “everything substantive between now andTop Gun: Maverickin early July,” calling it an outright mess that would seethe likes ofBlack Widow,A Quiet Place Part 2,Fast and Furious 9, among others, all move towards the second half of the year.
As noted by Comscore’s Paul Degarababedian, there is no magical transition from 2020 to 2021 that changed the conditions that forced this wave of movie delays in the industry, meaning movie theaters all over America and Western Europe are either partly closed or simply lacking the ability to pull in moviegoers. The same was echoed by another executive that believes business for the first quarter of the year will be at least 90% off from usual levels.
Movie theaterrevenue in the United States contracted by about 75%overall in 2020, with only a few really low budget films managing to make any money. This, coupled with the uncertainty on viability and profitability of streaming, even for Disney with its own streaming service, makes for a terrible prospect during the first semester of 2020 as far as new movie releases are concerned.
No Time to Dieis still officially scheduled for April 2, however, it should not surprise anyone if a new delay is soon announced for the film, as well as most other blockbusters down the line. As has been noted in the past studios have very few reasons to compromise potential billion dollar earnings, especially seeing howWonder Woman 1984fared at the box office.
MORE:5 Things from the OG Perfect Dark the Sequel Needs to Nail
