CEO of Imax: COVID-19 vaccine, a “game changer” for the renaissance of cinema

4:20 PM PST 11/09/2020

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Pamela mcclintock

Until now, Hollywood theater owners and studios weren’t even sure if the 2021 schedule would hold.

The decimated box office received a jolt of good news on Monday.

Pfizer Inc. has announced that its COVID-19 vaccine could be 90% effective, prompting major health authorities to speculate that life could start looking like normal by March or April. This lets movie theater owners and Hollywood studios know for the first time when the cinema might pick up in earnest.

Pfizer said it is a game-changer in terms of public health concerns. And I think the vaccine is a game-changer in terms of the film industry. No one had a deadline before. The announcement puts bookends. on it, ”said Richard, CEO of Imax. Gelfond said The Hollywood Reporter.

The exhibition and the studios echoed Gelfond’s sentiments, while shares of Imax and other major exhibition chains soared on Monday after news of the vaccine and after Saturday’s announcement that the President-elect Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential race ahead of outgoing President Donald Trump.

Until now, Hollywood studios have not even known if the 2021 release schedule is stable when it comes to their big budget masts, and especially the first part of the year. “The studios have really struggled. The movies keep moving and people are frustrated,” said another senior executive.

“The exposure was so shot,” adds Eric Handler, Wall Street analyst. “Now there is at least hope that we can get back to normal next year. There are a lot of people who will not go back to the theater until there is a vaccine.”

He is right. Almost 30% of American consumers polled by NRG, the leading Hollywood research and marketing film, say they have no plans to return to the movies until there is a vaccine.

While it’s true that nearly 50 percent of theaters in the United States have reopened, they are operating at capacities ranging from 25 to 50 percent. In terms of content, they’re relying on a diet of smaller Hollywood movies and catalog titles after studios delayed their fall and winter 2020 tents.

On Monday, the National Association of Theater Owners called on the lame Congress to provide millions of dollars in relief to theaters over the next few months, saying 96% of theaters had suffered losses this year by 70% more.