What will the movie industry look like after COVID?

The film industry was in flux before the pandemic struck. But after nearly a year of theater closures and hundreds of postponed films, the industry’s future is even less certain.

What will the movie industry look like in a post-COVID world?

Long term delays

Film production has been hit hard by COVID. Theaters and movie sets have been closed for months, costing $ 5 billion at the US box office in 2020. Only 338 films hit theaters in 2020, down 66% from 2019. The number of films that started production in 2020 fell dramatically, taking a 45% drop to 447.

The release of hundreds of films has been delayed. The new James Bond film, No time to die Originally slated for release in April 2020 and is now set for October 2021. Black Widow has also been pushed back several times, from May 2020 to July 2021. Pushing back certain movies creates a domino effect that will impact the movie pipeline for years to come. In the case of Black Widow, many other Marvel films, which tend to dominate the box office, are pushed back.

The delay in the current film list also puts future films on hold. Many studios are focusing on managing the logistics of their films currently in production or in pre-production instead of actively researching new films. This could lead to a sparse pipeline in the years to come.

Go from cinemas to streaming

Long-term closures have put cinemas large and small in financial distress and have caused many to close. Alamo Draft House filed for bankruptcy, while the future of many other chains and theater venues hangs in the balance. AMC Theaters, with nearly 1,000 locations, was only able to avoid bankruptcy in 2021 thanks to an injection of $ 917 million in liquidity from investors. Regal Cinemas barely holds up.

With the closing of theaters, many films have moved on to streaming. Universal Pictures has reached an agreement with AMC Theaters to reduce the airtime of its films exclusively in theaters from 90 days to 17. Warner Brothers began releasing its new films on HBO Max the same day they were released in theaters, a move that will extend to at least the end of 2021. Disney + has followed a similar pattern by releasing new movies to stream for an additional cost, and others included in the price of the base subscription.

Customers love having access to new releases from the comfort of their own homes. Disney + is out Cruel in theaters and for high-profile customers and earned over $ 20 million on each channel in the first weekend alone.

Cinemas and streaming are fighting for customers, but many experts believe the two can coexist. While movies are likely to be shown simultaneously or much closer to each other in streaming and in theaters than in the past, watching a movie at home rather than watching it in a movie theater offers very different experiences. . There are pros and cons for both, but customers will likely continue to want to watch new releases both from the luxury of a movie theater and from the comfort of their own homes.

The future of the film industry

In the future, what movies look like and how they are consumed could be very different. The rising cost of on-set safety precautions has been difficult for independent filmmakers. Large studios tend to have the resources to finance and market their films and may take greater financial risks, but independent studios and filmmakers are now struggling to find more funding. At least for the next few years, there will probably be fewer independent films.

In the future, more and more film studios will expand their animation offering. Animated films for families and adults tend to be easier to produce virtually with animators working from different locations, reducing the need for security measures.

The original scripts have been declining for years in favor of franchises and reboots. This trend will increase in the future, as studios opt for proven movies and series instead of taking a risk on a new franchise or script.

Watching movies indoors has long been a staple in the entertainment industry, but the pandemic may have changed all that. Going forward, we will see major changes in the industry to bring films closer to customers than ever before.

Blake morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker and best-selling book author The customer of the future. Subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.