Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-03-16)

COVID-19/ BUSINESS BloombergBusinessweek March16, 2020

31

○ The crew fled so quickly after the Feb. 25 decision
to delay filming of Mission: Impossible  7 that
Paramount Pictures forgot to cancel the welcome
party at the opulent Gritti Palace Hotel in Venice,
Italy. The handful of straggling technical work-
ers who showed up feasted with silver cutlery and
exquisitechinaina mostlyabandonedbanquethall.
Thatkindofconfusion—andneedlessspend-
ing—hasbeencharacteristicofHollywoodinthe
coronavirusera.On-locationproductionwork,
oftenplannedyearsinadvance,hasbeenresched-
uledatgreatcost.AfterhaltingfilminginVenice,
ParamountsaidtheMission:Impossibleshootsched-
uledforRomethismonthwouldalsobedelayed.
Evencompletedfilmsareintrouble:Shuttered
theatersinAsiahaveforcedstudiostoscrapsome
premieresandrethinktheir 2020 schedules.On
March4 theopeningoftheJamesBondthrillerNo
TimetoDiewaspushedfromApriltoNovember.
Lookingatthestateofthemovietheaterindustry—
theChineseshutdownandplummetingattendance
inFrance,Italy,HongKong,andSouthKorea—
thefilm’sbackerscouldn’tstomachputtingouta
would-beblockbusterforonlyhalfthepotential
audience,saysa personfamiliarwiththeirthinking.
It’slikelymoreopeningswillbedelayed,because
noonecanpredicthowsoongovernmentswilllift
restrictionsorwhenmoviegoerswillbecomfort-
ablesittingina crowdedtheater.“Thethingthat’s
scaryaboutthecoronavirustodayis thatwedon’t
knowtheextentofit,”saysJasonSquire,a profes-
sorattheUSCSchoolofCinematicArtsandeditor
ofTheMovieBusinessBook. Filmingdelayscancost
$1milliona day,hesays.Festivalsandpressevents,
includingtheunveilingoftheDisney+streaming
serviceinEurope,havealsobeencanceled.Apple

Inc. and Netflix Inc. pulled out of the South by

Southwest festival in Austin, where they’d planned

to showcase new programming; only days later, on

March 6, the entire event was canceled.

Production problems are spreading through

the TV industry. The new lead character of The

Bachelorette, a realitydatingshowmeanttooffer

anescapefromlife’sconcerns,willnolongerbe

courtedbyhermalesuitorsinItalynextseason.

Thecountryhasbeeninlockdownaftera spikein

Covid-19cases.

Hollywood productions are meticulously

planned,makingit particularlypainfulwhenthings

goawry.Everyhourofeachdayis scheduled,and

therearecomplextaskslikeshuttingdowncity

blocks,dolingoutpaytodozensorhundredsof

crewmembers,andensuringmegaprops—say,a

yacht—areavailable,saysTylerThompson,a pro-

ducerandpresidentofCrossCreekPictures.

Studiosareusedtodealingwithemergencies,

particularlyweather-relatedones,butanillnessthat

keepsjumpingtonewpartsoftheworldis unusual.

WiththeMission:Impossibleseries,thesetsand

propsareparticularlyambitious.Fortheseventh

installment,slatedforreleasein2021,workerswere

buildinga replicaoftheGrittiPalace.It’snowgath-

eringdust.Andthecrewthathaddescendedonthe

Italiancityearlierthismonthis inlimbo.

“Theytoldustopackourequipmentandtoleave

ASAP,”saysAriannaPascazi,a Romansceneartist

who’djuststartedtopaintstained-glasspiecesinthe

windowsoffauxbuildingsforthebackdropofthe

film’sactionsequences.“Theytoldustoleavesome

ofthescenesalreadymadehere.Buttobehonest,

wedon’tknowif wewillcomebackatall.”—Kelly

GilblomandFlaviaRotondi,withChristopherPalmeri

“They told

us to pack our

equipment

and to leave

ASAP”

*FILMS FOR WHICH THE NATIONS OF ORIGIN LISTING ON THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE INCLUDE THE U.S. BUT NOT CHINA. EXCLUDES THREE SUCH FILMS THAT MET THAT CRITERIA BUT HAD CHINESE PRODUCTION PARTNERS. STUDIOS MAY HAVE HAD ADDITIONAL PARTNERS ON THEIR FILMS AND IN SOME CASES ARE NOT THE PRIMARY PARTNER. †INCLUDES 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS FILMS. DATA: BOX OFFICE MOJO, IMDB, COMPANY WEBSITES

10% 20% 30%

Alita:

Battle

Angel

Fast &

Furious

Presents:

Hobbs &

Shaw

X-Men:

Dark

Phoenix

0%

Which Hollywood studios are most exposed to China?
Shareofboxofficerevenuefromthecountryamongtop-grossingmoviesof 2019*
Disney† AT&T (WarnerMedia) NBCUniversal Sony Other Global revenue

$1b