This week’s cover story from Variety Magazine is entitled “2020…An Earth-Shattering Year”. It includes interviews with seven leaders from the film industry who offer their perspectives on the cataclysm of the last ten months and an outlook for what’s to come.
Sony Pictures Chief Tony Vinciquerra comments that the pandemic has greatly accelerated the pace of industry response to changes in “how our customers are operating.” In other words, the rigid 90-day theatrical window was already breaking down so that consumers would have more choice in when, where, and how to watch movies.
Studios have new flexibility to decide when to release a film to theatres or for home entertainment. Vinciquerra predicts that theatres will experience steady growth in attendance throughout the spring, as the huge backlog of studio releases results in “a blockbuster movie every week in theatres for 18 months. We think consumers will be in theatres.”