The new James Bond movie – No Time To Die – has been pushed to November, studios have begun scrapping film festivals (such as next week’s now-cancelled SXSW event) and blockbuster films have stopped filming (like Mission Impossible).
Hollywood is being rocked by the coronavirus, in ways previously thought impossible.
According to industry experts, the shutting of Asian cinemas has already cost Hollywood around US$2 billion dollars. And there’s no end in sight.,
“I have never seen anything where this many films are going to be affected all at once,” said Jeff Bock, senior analyst at Exhibitor Relations.
“There’s isolated incidents or tragedies that happen, that might affect a certain film. But this really does infect all the industry from top to bottom.”
It’s not just 007 who has seen a delay. Mulan – Disney’s live-action blockbuster – is currently on pause, although it is still slated to hit cinemas later this month.
“We’ll see a little bit of downturn this week — by the time ‘Mulan‘ comes out, if this breaks as big as it did in China, it’s going to change the entire landscape,” said Bock.
Earlier this year, Paramount Pictures put shooting for the new Tom Cruise Mission Impossible film on hold, citing, “an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew.”
Netflix has scrapped Italy as a shooting location for its new Dwayne Johnson film Red Notice.
“The longer that goes on, the fewer films that we get in the pipeline for 2021, 2022,” said Bock.
“This has the potential to really cripple the theatrical industry the longer it goes on.”
