now around when theaters can open, what
the guidelines will be and how moviegoers
will respond.
“Do you open now and show ‘Jaws’ and ‘Harry
Potter’ and older titles? Or are people going
to say, ‘I can watch that at home’?” Wold said.
“I think (theaters will) be smart and wait.
There’s no rush. You might as well wait until
June and see how it goes and slowly open
from there.”
Should restrictions stay in place longer, Wold
said the bigger chains have raised enough cash
to last to at least until Thanksgiving for AMC, and
even into 2021 for Cinemark with no revenue
coming in.
“Black Widow” will still have her day in the sun,
even if it is in November, and all of the movies
will eventually come out in one form or another.
On Tuesday, theater owners and Universal
squabbled over “Trolls World Tour’s” straight-to-
VOD strategy and what it means for the future of
theatrical windows.
But perhaps the turbulence of the lost 2020
summer movie season will result in some
strategic rethinking — at least that’s what
film critic and “Unspooled” co-host Amy
Nicholson hopes.
“For decades, the major studios have wandered
away from producing mid-budget comedies
and adult dramas to gamble their money
on gargantuan summer blockbusters,” said
Nicholson. “I’d love to see the industry recover by
greenlighting an eclectic slate of $5-$15 million
flicks that could make moviegoing fun again.
Time to swap out financial risks for creative risks.”