If COVID-19 hadn't completely upended the entertainment industry, and indeed life as we know it, right about now we would be reporting on what would've been the undoubtedly high box office takings for the latest James Bond film, No Time To Die.
It was originally scheduled to open last Friday, and surely Easter weekend audiences would've flocked to theaters to watch their favorite spy in action again. The announcement that the film's release date was being delayed until November came on March 4th, and for many people, it was one of the first indicators of just how serious this crisis was going to be. The move came as a shock to many, and is indicative of how big screen storytelling is one of the principal ways we all relate to each other in the wider world.
One film that did come out on Friday was DreamWorks Animation's Trolls World Tour, the sequel to 2016's animated hit Trolls, which was released directly onto video on demand platforms.
Trolls World Tour is the first major studio release to bypass theaters entirely, unlike Deadshot, The Hunt and The Invisible Man, which managed a week or two in cinemas before heading to VOD when all the theaters shut down.
As previously noted, the decision to not wait until the crisis was over and instead release the movie directly to consumers was not received well at all by exhibitors, who apparently fear that this move will weaken the power of the theatrical window—a constant fight for self-preservation as it is already.
Trolls World Tour's VOD announcement was followed by the news that Disney was also cancelling the theatrical release of one of their major family offerings for the year: a long-awaited adaptation of the Young Adult novel phenomenon, Artemis Fowl. Instead of its planned theatrical bow, it was announced that the film would be going straight onto the Disney+ streaming service.
Out of all of Disney's big movies scheduled to come out this year—including titles like the live-action animation adaptation Mulan and Marvel Cinematic Universe’s offering Black Widow—Artemis Fowl is arguably the one that was best situated to go straight to streaming without causing too much outrage. However, it could also be perceived as yet another domino to fall in the diminishing importance of the theatrical window in modern culture.
Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger (who was CEO until very recently) has said that more Disney movies may follow Artemis Fowl in bypassing theaters for Disney +, a statement that won't make many theater chains happy. If either Mulan or Black Widow end up going this route, expect a major ruckus.
Less tears are being shed in reaction to the recent news that family-friendly action comedy My Spy had been acquired by Amazon and would be going straight onto their Prime streaming service. Perhaps because the film has had a somewhat fraught distribution life thus far, with multiple US release dates announced and re-scheduled, despite the visible presence of billboards marketing the film in major cities.
The movie, starring Dave Bautista, had already been released in several major global markets (including Canada) prior to the impact of COVID-19, and there were clearly some issues around it hitting theaters in the US before the crisis. So you're not hearing exhibitors crying foul on that one.
As with almost everything that happens in this industry, these moves suggest major changes in the way that we collectively consume our screen narratives. What isn’t clear as of yet, is how much these shifts will represent the new normal.