Summer’s Here, But Hollywood’s True Test Will Be Christmas 2021

[Drosselmeyer]

Summer’s Here, But Hollywood’s True Test Will Be Christmas 2021

By Brandon Katz • 05/10/21 10:44am       The Observer

 

Despite recent theatrical victories in Godzilla vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat, American movie theaters are still hurting as the pandemic continues. Just 60% of U.S. movie theaters were open this past weekend with limited capacity restrictions still largely in effect. AMC Theatres, the largest exhibitor in North America, narrowly avoided bankruptcy in January with a last minute cash infusion from investors. The domestic box office is still down roughly 75% as compared to the same point in 2020. The film industry’s recovery is a slow march, not a mad-dash sprint.

May 28’s release of A Quiet Place Part II and June 25th’s release of F9 will largely mark the return of new blockbuster movies to cinemas. After playing musical chairs with release dates for the better part of a year, the latter half of 2021 is stocked with major releases. The hope is that the deluge of fresh new titles will reinvigorate consistent theatrical moviegoing.

Within that logjam of marquee movies, arguably the tightest turnaround of back-to-back biggies comes around the Christmas holiday season. The mid-to-late December corridor will see the release of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (Dec. 10), Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home (Dec. 17), Universal’s Sing 2 (Dec. 22), Warner Bros.’ The Matrix 4 (Dec. 22), Focus Features’ Downton Abbey 2 (Dec. 22) and 20th Century’s The King’s Man (Dec. 22).

That’s a lot of hopeful high-end product set to be delivered in a small window. Then again, that sort of compressed release schedule surrounding Christmas vacation is a staple of Hollywood. It isn’t strange to see four or five major releases, all vying for box office dollars, each year in this stretch. Whether or not the current marketplace can financially support such a sprint will be a true test of the film industry’s recovery.

In 2019, the Christmas season proved very profitable for Hollywood. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Jumanji: The Next Level, which would go on to earn more than $320 million domestic, kicked off the run on Dec. 13. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($515 million) followed on Dec. 20 alongside the expanded wide release of awards contender Bombshell ($32 million domestic against a $32 million budget). Greta Gerwig’s Little Women ($108 million), the animated Spies in Disguise ($67 million) and Adam Sandler’s Uncut Gems ($50 million against a $19 million budget) all hit on Christmas and would go on to earn money. Of course, there were some stinkers such as Cats and Richard Jewell that struggled financially (the former would lose the studio $100 million). But the standard holiday muscle was mostly in effect across the board.

Source:     https://observer.com/2021/05/spider-man-sing-2-matrix-4-west-side-story-christmas-2021-box-office/

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[Santa Johnny Boy]

Personally, I think Hollywood had it's run.  Too many Hollywood movies want to tell you how and what to think, and the entertainment value has gone way down in favor of political correctness.

I enjoy more independent films and especially Christian movies.