Can Hollywood survive from desperation: a task that 007 can't complete
James Bond cannot save Hollywood this year. This is an impossible task. Super agents such as 007 cannot solve the fatal crisis of the American film industry in the epidemic.
The James Bond film "007: No Time to Die" starring Daniel Craig was originally scheduled to be released in North America on April 10, 2020. Due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the film was first postponed to November 25. Now , The film party once again announced the extension to April next year.
This decision not only disappointed the fans, but also caused a head-on blow to the American cinema line that was originally expected to save the box office with this film.
Three-quarters of theaters face bankruptcy
100,000 employees will lose their jobs
On the third day after 007’s new film was announced to be postponed again, on October 5th, local time in the United States, Cineworld, the world’s second largest cinema operator, decided to suspend the operation of all its 536 theaters in the United States and 127 theaters in the United Kingdom.
The news came out that the company's stock price plummeted by 50% that day. Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the company's stock price has fallen by 81.99%.
At the same time, according to multiple media reports, Cineworld may have laid off 45,000 employees in the United Kingdom and the United States.
CEO Moki Gridinger said it is difficult for movie theaters to continue to operate without film sources. "Now we are like a supermarket without vegetables, fruits and meat."
Since August, although nearly half of the theaters in the United States have reopened, due to the continued deterioration of the new crown epidemic, not many movie fans are willing to return to the theaters.
The first to test the waters was the masterpiece "Creed" by the great director Christopher Nolan. Although it was generally favored by film critics before, it did not get the favor of the box office.
In the five weeks since its release in North America, "Creed" has earned only $45 million in box office revenue, while Nolan's last work "Dunkirk", in the first five weeks of its release in 2017, collected 100 million in North America. 70 million dollars.
With Nolan’s precedent, Hollywood studios would rather withdraw files than put films that cost a lot of money on the market at this time.
Several films have announced postponements, including the highly anticipated Marvel spinoff "Black Widow" and Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story".
At present, there are no films to release, which has become a dilemma for the American film market. Last weekend’s box office runner-up turned out to be a rebroadcast of the 90s Disney film "Witch Is Crazy".
According to data from the US box office revenue website, the North American weekend box office on October 3 was 8.3 million U.S. dollars, a 12% decrease from the previous weekend and a 93% decrease from the same period last year.
There were no films available, and the cinema had to be closed.
The National Theater Owners Association of the United States recently stated that nearly three-quarters of small and medium theaters in the United States are at risk of bankruptcy and 100,000 employees are at risk of unemployment due to the epidemic.
In order to avoid the epidemic, there are various award ceremonies and film festivals.
The Oscars ceremony, originally scheduled for February 28 next year, was postponed to April 25. Such a delay has only occurred three times in Hollywood history.
The Los Angeles flood in 1938, the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, and the assassination and injury of US President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Hollywood shut down
Global location shooting forced to cancel
The outbreak of the new crown epidemic caused a complete shutdown of Hollywood film production.
In March, California Governor Newsom issued a home shelter order, and at the same time required the closure of all non-essential businesses and workplaces.
As a result, the studios of major Hollywood studios were closed for three months and were not allowed to open conditionally until June.
The closure of cities around the world for epidemic prevention has forced the cancellation of filming on location.
The earliest stoppage was "Mission Impossible 7", which was originally planned to be filmed in Venice for 3 weeks on February 20. Due to the outbreak of the epidemic in Italy, the crew waited 7 months before getting permission to restart.
In the list of movies that were forced to stop filming and production, Cameron James’s "Avatar" sequel 2 and 3, and Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" sequel 4.
Hollywood stars have contracted the disease and have interrupted the ongoing shooting.
The first reported infection was Tom Hanks. In March, he was filming a biopic of "Elvis Presley" in Australia. After the news of the infection was announced, the studio was closed and all those present were quarantined.
In August, the filming of "Uncharted" was also interrupted for several weeks because the star Antonio Banderas tested positive for the new crown.
Traditional shooting methods changed
The rapid rise of streaming
With the increasing calls for restarting the economy in the United States, the production of Hollywood movies has gradually resumed, but many traditional methods are changing.
For example, the staff in the clothing, lighting, and props groups used to stay on the scene so that they can deal with situations in time.
Now, in order to ensure social distancing, these people are required to leave quickly after completing their work, or they can only wait in designated areas.
Mark Gill, one of the producers of "Slumdog Millionaire", said: "Many people think that this is just a change in the way of working. They don't realize the huge cultural impact we will face."
According to the analysis of the "Washington Post", in the next film production, in order to avoid close contact causing virus infection, romantic love scenes will be greatly reduced, and the shooting on the spot will gradually be replaced by virtual technology, and a large number of extra scenes Shooting will also become more and more difficult.
Considering the potential risk of infection, people are reluctant to spend more than ten hours in crowded places for a reward of $100 a day.
Industry insiders believe that there will never be thousands of extras like "Brave Heart" in the future.
Quite different from the decline of the film industry during the epidemic is the rise of streaming services.
According to the BBC report, the US streaming media platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, these three companies added 120 million new users during the epidemic. Statistics show that the average daily viewing time on streaming media platforms has reached One hour and 11 minutes is twice the amount before the outbreak.
Many films choose to premiere on streaming media rather than on the big screen.
"Mulan" starring Liu Yifei has been postponed several times due to the epidemic, and finally decided to premiere online on Disney+. Disney+ is a paid streaming platform launched by Disney. Users pay US$6.99 a month. To watch the film "Mulan" requires additional Pay $29.99.
According to CCTV News