The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

has had a substantial effect on certain films in the early 2020s, mirroring its impacts across all arts sectors. Across the world and to varying degrees, cinemas and movie theaters have been closed, festivals have been cancelled or postponed, and film releases have been moved to future dates or delayed indefinitely. Due to cinemas and movie theaters closing, the global box office has dropped by billions of dollars, streaming has seen a significant increase in popularity and the stock of

film exhibitor A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s has also dropped dramatically. Many blockbusters originally scheduled to be released since mid-March 2020 have been postponed or canceled around the world, with film productions also halted. This, in turn, created openings for independent cinema productions to receive wider exposure. The Chinese film industry had lost by March 2020, having closed all its cinemas during the Lunar New Year period that sustains the industry across Asia. North America saw its lowest box office weekend since 1998 between March 13–15. The highest-grossing film of 2020 was the

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

film '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train'', which earned $503 million worldwide. It was the first time since 2007 that the top-grossing film of a given year had earned less than $1 billion and the first time a non-American film was the top-grossing film of the year. In 2021, the worldwide box office showed signs of recovery, with a 78% increase in revenue over 2020. Despite the still-ongoing pandemic, the December 2021 release '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' quickly became the highest-grossing film of 2021, the sixth highest-grossing film of all time just over a month after its theatrical release, and the first film since 2019 to earn more than $1 billion worldwide.

Box office

Cobble Hill cinema, Brooklyn (49571450227)

In early March 2020, it was predicted that the global box office could lose US$5 billion as a result of the pandemic. Countries that are pandemic hot-spots have closed or restricted cinemas and movie theaters, negatively affecting film revenue. Attendance has also been lower in other regions. Following the pandemic in mainland China, 70,000 cinemas were closed in January 2020. In the first two months of 2020, China's box office was down to US$3.9 million, compared to US$2.148 billion in the first two months of 2019. Later, as a result of the pandemic in Italy, on March 8, 2020, the Italian government ordered all cinemas to be closed, for up to a month. Before the closure, box office tracking estimated a 94% drop for the weekend of March 6–8 compared to the same period the previous year. Because of the growing pandemic in France, cinemas are operating at half capacity, leaving strategic seats unavailable to reduce proximity in the screens, a move followed days later by the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

cinema chain

Omniplex Cinemas Omniplex Cinemas is a cinema chain in Ireland set up in 1991. It is operated by Paul Anderson. It operates cinemas throughout Ireland. In 2013, Omniplex began a €14.5m investment and renovation in a number of its cinemas including the rolling o ...

. On March 12,

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

also closed all cinemas, as did the US on March 17, Malaysia and Thailand on March 18, the UK on March 20, Australia and New Zealand on March 22, and Singapore on March 27. After a state of emergency was declared in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and six other prefectures in Japan on April 7, over 220 cinemas were closed. Percentage box office losses (outside of mainland China) for January to March 3, 2020, are 70–75% in Italy, 60% in South Korea, 35% in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Singapore, and 30% in Taiwan. The

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

box office, a key movie market and local economic backbone, was projected to fall by 20% in April 2020 compared to its 2019 figures, based on the state of emergency declared in the county at the start of March 2020. Despite the state of emergency, as single screens within movie theatres do not hold more than 1,000 people, they were granted an exemption from the ban on mass public gatherings in California. A

National Association of Theatre Owners The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the worldwide major theater chains' operators are members, as are hundreds of independent theater opera ...

representative for California and Nevada announced that theatres would stay open; historically, movie theatres have remained open during other similar emergencies. However, a survey of Americans over the opening March weekend showed support for closing movie theaters. On March 15, ''Deadline'' reported that over 100 movie theaters in the US had closed, some due to local rulings and others because of an inability to keep them open with no demand; on March 17, with national restrictions to social gatherings, cinemas across the United States closed. However,

drive-in theater A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movi ...

s, where customers stay in their own cars, were not closed, and quickly grew in popularity again. Temporarily Closed (49674922957)

The opening March weekend saw a dramatically lower box office than the same weekend in 2019. The 2019 opening March weekend saw the release of '' Captain Marvel'', which alone earned over US$153 million domestically that weekend, compared to the 2020 weekend's biggest film, '' Onward'', with around US$39 million. The next weekend saw the lowest total US box office intake since the October 30–November 1, 1998 weekend, with lower percentage drops than the weekend after 9/11, at US$55.3 million. ''Onward'' itself saw the biggest weekend-to-weekend drop of any

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

film, making $10.5 million, though was still the weekend's biggest film and the only one to make over $10 million. On March 19, Walt Disney Studios and

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

announced that they would no longer report box office figures. Comscore therefore announced the next day that it would indefinitely suspend its reporting of box office estimates and charts. On March 26, 2020, after local transmission of the virus had dropped to 0% in China, movie theaters there began to re-open, with reports that 250–500 theaters were opening, but the next day authorities again closed all movie theaters in the country.

Scheduling

Awards

Three award ceremonies were held after the coronavirus became widespread: the 10th Magritte Awards on February 1, the 45th César Awards on February 28, and the 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize on March 6. The Japanese Academy Prize ceremony went ahead on March 6. However, the ceremony was conducted without any guests or journalists. The 14th Seiyu Awards cancelled its live ceremony scheduled for March 7 in Tokyo and instead broadcast the winners on

Nippon Cultural Broadcasting is a Japanese radio station in Tokyo which broadcasts to the Kanto area. It is one of the two flagship radio stations of National Radio Network (NRN) (the other station is ) and is a member of the Fujisankei Communications Group. History The ...

's internet radio program. The

40th Golden Raspberry Awards The 40th Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, was an awards ceremony that honored the worst the film industry had to offer in 2019. The awards are based on votes from members of the Golden Raspberry Foundation. The nominees were announced on Feb ...

were initially intended to take place as planned on March 14. However, it was ultimately cancelled. The ceremony's winners were announced on their YouTube channel on March 16. The

International Indian Film Academy Awards The International Indian Film Academy Awards, popularly known as IIFA, is an annual awards ceremony for Bollywood. Produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the winners of the awards are decided by fans, who vote online for th ...

, planned to take place on March 27, was cancelled, while the Italian Academy's David di Donatello ceremony has been postponed from April 3 to May 8. The American Film Institute's lifetime achievement ceremony to honour Dame Julie Andrews was pushed back from April to the summer. The 2020

Platino Awards The Platino Awards, known in Spanish as Premios Platino del Cine Iberoamericano (" Platinum Prizes of Ibero-American Cinema"), are Ibero-America's annual film awards. The awards were established in 2013, and the first awards ceremony took place ...

were also postponed. The

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and Golden Globe Awards modified their eligibility criteria for their 2021 editions, as they usually require that a film be screened theatrically for a minimum length of time. The

Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media (newspaper, magazine and book publication ...

mentioned that films released via non-theatrical means (such as digital) would be eligible if they were scheduled to have a "bona fide theatrical release" in Los Angeles after March 15 (with a cutoff date to be determined). The Best Foreign Language Film award would similarly offer eligibility for films originally scheduled for a theatrical release in their country of origin between March 15 and a date to be determined. The

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 202 ...

would also allow films released via password-protected or transactional

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

to be eligible if they were originally scheduled to have a theatrical release. Once cinemas have sufficiently resumed operations, the requirement that a film be screened for at least a week would be reinstated. In addition to Los Angeles, eligible screenings would also be allowed to take place in one of five other major U.S. cities. On June 15, it was announced that the Academy Awards would be pushed back by two months from February 28 to April 25, so that the cutoff for eligibility could likewise be extended from December 31, 2020, to February 28. The Academy Governors Awards and Scientific and Technical Awards were postponed indefinitely. The

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(BAFTA) subsequently announced that it would follow suit and postpone the

74th British Academy Film Awards The 74th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFAs (or BAFTAs), were held on 10 and 11 April 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2020 and early 2021. Presented by the British Aca ...

to April. On June 22, the Golden Globe Awards were also delayed from early-January to February 28, 2021 (filling the Academy Awards' former date). The Screen Actors Guild Awards were also postponed from January 24 to March 14. With the delay of the

2021 Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...

to March 14 citing the current surge of COVID-19 cases in California, on January 13, 2021, the SAG Awards were delayed once again to April 4.

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, recordi ...

criticized

The Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

for not respecting the scheduling of other award presentations. In Canada, the pandemic shutdown forced the cancellation of both the

8th Canadian Screen Awards The 8th annual Canadian Screen Awards were originally scheduled to be held on March 29, 2020, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2019.22nd Quebec Cinema Awards. Both programs ultimately announced their winners through virtual livestreaming, the Canadian Screen Awards presenting film winners on May 28, and the Quebec Cinema Awards presented on June 10. As of August 2020, neither the

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

nor Québec Cinéma have announced their plans for the 2021 ceremonies. The

Omicron variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has spread to become the ...

, which has had Los Angeles and New York City as particular U.S. epicenters, led to further disruption of the awards season in January 2022. The

27th Critics' Choice Awards The 27th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on March 13, 2022, at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California and the Savoy Hotel in London, honoring the finest achievements of filmmaking and television programming in 2021. Th ...

were postponed to March 13, 2022, the same day as the 75th British Academy Film Awards, while the 49th Annie Awards were delayed to March 12, and the

79th Golden Globe Awards The 79th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2021, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The ceremony took place privately on January 9, 2022. The nominees were announced on December ...

were held under strict COVID-19 protocols with only HFPA beneficiaries in attendance. The ceremony had already been downsized into a non-televised event due to boycotts of the organization by media companies and creatives (including its regular broadcaster

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

) over the lack of

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

among its membership.

Festivals

Many festivals and events have been cancelled or postponed. Postponements include the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, set to begin on March 5 and rescheduled for June 2020; the

Beijing International Film Festival The Beijing International Film Festival (Chinese: 北京国际电影节), abbreviated BJIFF, is a film festival in Beijing, China. Founded in 2011, the film festival is supported and sponsored by China Film Administration, China Media Group a ...

, planned for April 2020 and postponed indefinitely; the Prague International Film Festival, moved from late March to sometime later in 2020; the

Bentonville Film Festival The Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) is an American film festival held annually in Bentonville, Arkansas that focuses on diversity. Foundation Bentonville Film Festival was founded by actress Geena Davis and ARC Entertainment executive Trevor ...

, set for April 29 – May 2 and moved to August; the

Istanbul International Film Festival The Istanbul Film Festival ( tr, İstanbul Film Festivali) is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Tu ...

, set for April 10–21 and postponed to a later date in 2020; and the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

. The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival, a two-week festival in March, experienced low attendance during its first week and postponed its second week to August 2020. The 20th Beverly Hills Film Festival scheduled for April 1–15 is postponed indefinitely. The 38th Fajr International Film Festival, scheduled for April 16–24 in Tehran, has been postponed, with plans to organize the event in late spring. The 2020 Metro Manila Summer Film Festival, originally scheduled for April 11–21, was also postponed after the decision to place

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

(the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines) under community quarantine was announced, however, it was later cancelled. Canceled events include the Swiss International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, planned for early March; the

Red Sea International Film Festival The Red Sea International Film Festival ( ar, مهرجان البحر الأحمر السينمائي الدولي) is a film festival launched in 2019 and held in Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia. The festival mainly focuses on new storytelling t ...

, which was to be held for the first time in March 2020; the March 2020 South by Southwest (SXSW), which would have included film screenings; the 2020 BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival; Nickelodeon's 2020 Slimefest festival; Qumra, the Doha Film Institute's international directors' conference; Hong Kong Filmart, a large film market event; the

CinemaCon The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the worldwide major theater chains' operators are members, as are hundreds of independent theater oper ...

2020; and

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

's Series Mania television festival. The 22nd edition of

Ebertfest Ebertfest is an annual film festival held every April in Champaign, Illinois, United States, organized by the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Roger Ebert, the TV and ''Chicago Sun-Times'' film critic, was a native of the adjoin ...

and the 44th edition of the

Cleveland International Film Festival The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) is an annual film festival based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the largest film festival in Ohio. It was first held in 1977, showing eight films over a period of eight weeks at the Cedar Lee Theatre. ...

are cancelled. New Jersey's global film festival, Garden State Film Festival, scheduled for March 25–29, cancelled their in-person Asbury Park-based festival, however will be proceeding with the original schedule in a real-time live-streaming online format. The 55th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival was canceled and postponed to 2021; its organizers later announced plans to hold an unofficial "54 ½" edition in November, but it was cancelled due to the reinstatement of restrictions in the country. The

2020 Cannes Film Festival The 73rd annual Cannes Film Festival was scheduled to take place from 12 to 23 May 2020. On 13 January 2020, Spike Lee was named as the president of the Jury. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, festival management announced on 14 A ...

sent out invitations on March 6, despite France implementing limits on public gatherings beyond its scheduled dates; the Cannes Television Festivals Canneseries and MIPTV chose not to run, however, with Canneseries rescheduling for October and MIPTV canceling its event. On March 19, the

Festival de Cannes The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

announced that it cannot be held on the scheduled dates, from May 12–23. Several options are considered in order to preserve its running, the main one being a simple postponement, in Cannes, until the end of June-beginning of July 2020. Cannes' main venue has been converted into a temporary homeless shelter. Some festivals, including Tribeca, SXSW, ReelAbilities, TCM Classic Film Festival, and the Greenwich International Film Festival have created new online programming in lieu of having an in-person festival. The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival is also planned to proceed at least partially online;Victoria Ahearn
"TIFF still planning some type of physical festival, execs say"
.

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

, May 28, 2020. on July 30, TIFF programmers announced a much smaller than normal lineup of feature films that will be screened at

drive-in theatre A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movi ...

venues and online. Within the industry, it is suggested that after the pandemic is contained and major events reschedule, the less-important business events and festivals may be more permanently removed from industry calendars, to allow more important events to happen, because they may be deemed unnecessary if no great effect is felt by their cancellations, and to ease finances of the industry as it enters a recession brought about by coronavirus-caused losses. The

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

worked with several international partner film festivals to launch We Are One: A Global Film Festival, an international online festival of films screening for free on YouTube between May 29 and June 7.Jeremy Kay
"We Are One global film festival announces line-up"
. '' Screen Daily'', 27 May 2020. Due to the unprecedented interruption of film productions caused by the pandemic, the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland has asked directors including

Lucrecia Martel Lucrecia Martel (born December 14, 1966) is an Argentine film director, screenwriter and producer whose feature films have frequented Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, and many other international film festivals. Film scholar Paul Julian Smith w ...

and

Lav Diaz Lavrente Indico Anciro Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino independent filmmaker and former film critic. Frequently known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement, having made several of the longest narrative films on recor ...

to select films from the festival's 74-year history for a retrospective that will be screened online and in physical locations. The

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

announced that it would make "masks optional" once attendees were seated for film screenings. The actions were criticized for creating a potential superspreader event as the social nature of the festival could increase the risk for COVID-19 transmission. It reversed the decision within 24 hours citing a surge of new cases in Ontario. The Oceanside International Film Festival screened virtually online in August 2020. The

Tribeca Film Institute The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) is a year-round non-profit arts organization founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff, based in New York. The Tribeca Film Institute was created in 2003 in the wake of September 11, 2001. TFI t ...

, a fundraising and educational non-profit, suspended operations on September 1, 2020, due to "uncertainties surrounding our new reality." The

which operates under the same parent company will continue. The

Horrible Imaginings Film Festival The Horrible Imaginings Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival originally based in San Diego until 2018, when it moved to Santa Ana. It was established in 2009 by Miguel Rodriguez. History Director Miguel Rodriguez is the curator fo ...

extended their usual three day event to seven days for virtual screenings in 2020. The

Provincetown International Film Festival The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held on Cape Cod in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films f ...

and its associated non-profit

laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...

its newly hired CEO and eight other staff members in 2020 due to the pandemic. The San Diego International Film Festival, held in October 2020, screened both online and on

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...

screens. In September 2021, it was announced that a person with COVID-19 attended several screenings at the

2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...

. Films affected included '' Dune'', '' Bergman Island'' and '' The Humans''. The San Diego Women's Film Festival held their last event in 2021 and folded into a "Women's Series" at the San Diego International Film Festival due to infrastructure issues created by the impact of the pandemic.

Films

Theatrical releases

On January 22, 2020, the Chinese blockbuster '' Lost in Russia'' canceled its theatrical release and was sent to streaming platforms. It was made available to watch for free, a move said to encourage people to watch it and stay home. The next day, all theaters in China were closed. On January 31, ''Enter the Fat Dragon'' also premiered online. ''Lost in Russia'' was streamed by 180 million accounts in the first three days after its release; China's highest-grossing film (and the highest-grossing non-English film ever) was 2017's '' Wolf Warrior 2'', which had sold a total of over 160 million tickets worldwide. At the beginning of February, American films set to premiere in China over February and March were officially canceled. Chinese media companies began making more films free online through January. Asian markets also saw Chinese and Hong Kong film distributors cancel exports over the Lunar New Year holiday, including for the films ''Vanguard'', ''

Detective Chinatown 3 ''Detective Chinatown 3'' () is a 2021 Chinese comedy mystery buddy film directed and written by Chen Sicheng, starring Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran. It is a sequel to ''Detective Chinatown 2'' (2018) and is the third installment in the ''Det ...

'', ''The Rescue'', and '' Legend of Deification'';

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese film ''Do You Love Me As I Love You'' had its Asian release moved to April. Cinemas in Asian countries without public restrictions have been increasing hygiene measures, with the spokesperson for one chain saying that they added more hand sanitizer dispensers, performed temperature checks on staff and moviegoers, cleaned facilities more frequently, and displayed public health warnings on the movie screens. The Lunar New Year holiday is a large market for film releases across Asia, but was stunted in 2020 as the outbreak began rapidly spreading over this period of time. At the start of March, the ''James Bond'' film ''

No Time to Die ''No Time to Die'' is a 2021 spy film and the twenty-fifth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, starring Daniel Craig in his fifth and final portrayal of fictional British MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Cary ...

'', which was scheduled to premiere in March 2020 and to

wide release In the American motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across the country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical r ...

in April 2020, was postponed to November and then subsequently to April 2021. ''No Time to Die'' was the first film to change its planned release outside of China because of the early outbreak of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, and has opened discussions of dramatic implications on the film economy: many other productions had avoided scheduling releases at the same time as the 25th ''Bond'' film, and its new November date is in the busy holiday release period, leading to low box office intake in March/April and uncertain intake in November. However, the postponement could reportedly generate more publicity for the film, and is also taking the familiar November release slot of the past two ''Bond'' films. It has also been suggested that other high-profile films will follow and postpone releases, creating a similar effect. Several other films soon followed in postponing their releases worldwide: the heavily promoted Polish slasher film '' W lesie dziś nie zaśnie nikt'' (''Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight'') was postponed from March 13 to some point in the future when the situation had settled, and the political documentary '' Slay the Dragon'' had its theatrical release moved from March 13 to April 3. The sequel '' Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' was initially scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom and the US in late March and early April respectively, but due to uncertainty over the outbreak, the film was postponed to early August before being postponed once again to December 11, 2020, and January 15, 2021, respectively. Sony Pictures, the film's production company, said that the changes internationally were because of coronavirus fears, with the US release moved in sync over worries of pirate copies and because the rival children's film DreamWorks/Universal's '' Trolls World Tour'' had moved its release date earlier, to the same weekend on which ''Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' was initially planned to be released. ''Trolls World Tour'''s forward rescheduling takes it to what would have been ''No Time to Die'''s weekend (both are distributed by Universal), and leaves it as the biggest film in April. Other major films have postponed releases in certain countries. The

film '' Onward'', released on the opening March weekend, was not opened in the areas most affected by the coronavirus outbreak; while cinemas were closed in China, it also chose not to open in South Korea, Italy or Japan. Other March 2020 releases ''

A Quiet Place Part II ''A Quiet Place Part II'' is a 2020 American post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by John Krasinski. It is the sequel to the 2018 film '' A Quiet Place'', following the family from the first film as they continue to navigate and su ...

'' and ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...

'' postponed their releases in affected areas, too. This prompted worry that, should March film openings underperform, blockbusters set for release in May (specifically Disney/

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

's '' Black Widow'' and Universal's '' F9'') would move their dates later in the calendar. However, ''A Quiet Place Part II'' had its world premiere on New York City on March 8 scheduled as planned. ''Mulan'' not opening in China, where it aimed to make most of its money, was particularly concerning, especially with the possibility that pirate copies will appear and prevent Chinese moviegoers from going to see it in cinemas when it is released. Comparatively, ''A Quiet Place Part II'' had not anticipated a large Chinese draw, as the box office for the first film in the country was only 10% of its total. On March 12, 2020, it was announced that the global release of ''A Quiet Place Part II'' would be delayed, based on widespread advice and policies against large gatherings and it was first rescheduled to September 4, 2020, in time for the Labor Day weekend, then to its new date of April 23, 2021 due to the continuous virus surging in the United States. On the same day, the release of Indian film ''

Sooryavanshi ''Sooryavanshi'' is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language action film written and directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Reliance Entertainment, Rohit Shetty Picturez, Dharma Productions and Cape of Good Films. The fourth installment of Shetty's ' ...

,'' which was initially scheduled to release on March 24, was postponed indefinitely, and the release of ''F9'' was pushed to April 2, 2021. ''Mulan'''s March 12 London premiere went ahead without a red carpet, and on March 13, it was announced that the film was removed from the release calendar, but had been rescheduled for July 24, 2020, taking the release date of another Disney film '' Jungle Cruise'' and was further delayed by four weeks to August 21, 2020. With no further rescheduling options, ''Mulan'' was removed from the release calendar again. Disney also postponed the releases of ''Antlers'' and ''The New Mutants'', but not ''Black Widow''. This is speculated to be because the other films are standalone, while moving ''Black Widow'' – the first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four – would affect the development and distribution of the future

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

and the Marvel Disney+ works, with Disney holding off on an early postponement announcement until March 17, when they postponed ''Black Widow'' and their other May releases, ''

The Personal History of David Copperfield ''The Personal History of David Copperfield'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Armando Iannucci, based on the 1850 novel ''David Copperfield'' by Charles Dickens. It stars Dev Patel as the title character, along with Aneurin ...

'' and '' The Woman in the Window''. Though it had earlier been speculated that ''Black Widow'' would be able to take Marvel's November release date planned for '' Eternals'', it was not initially given a new date. On April 3, 2020, ''Black Widow'' was rescheduled to November 6, 2020, taking the release date of the aforementioned ''Eternals''. Three months later, on July 25, 2020, Disney announced that ''Antlers'' would get its new release date of February 19, 2021, nearly a year later after its original release. In August 2020, Disney announced that it cancelled the theatrical release of ''

'' (live-action remake) in North America and would premiere the film on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

with Premier Access instead. It went on to have a theatrical release in select countries, including China. On September 23, Disney postponed ''Black Widow'' to May 7, 2021, ''Death on the Nile'' to December 18, 2020, and ''West Side Story'' to December 10, 2021. As a result, ''Eternals'' was also delayed to November 5, 2021, in order to maintain the MCU continuity.

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

followed Disney by announcing the postponement of the rest of their upcoming slate on March 24. '' Tenet'' was pushed from July 17, 2020, to July 31, 2020, then August 12, 2020 before it was held up indefinitely. ''

Wonder Woman 1984 ''Wonder Woman 1984'' (also known as ''WW84'') is a 2020 American superhero film based on the DC character Wonder Woman. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, and The Stone Quarry, and distributed by Warner Bros. P ...

'' was pushed to August 14, 2020, then to October 2, 2020, and then again to December 25, 2020, with ''

Scoob! ''SCOOB!'' is a 2020 American computer-animated mystery comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is a reboot of the theatrical'' Scooby-Doo'' film series and the third theatrical film b ...

'', ''

In the Heights ''In the Heights'' is a musical with concept, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Dominican American neighborhood of ...

'', and ''

Malignant Malignancy () is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse. Malignancy is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A ''malignant'' tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous ''benign'' tumor in that a malignancy is not s ...

'' being delayed indefinitely. This resulted in ''Scoob!'' not having a theatrical release in North America and that film went straight to video on demand, while ''In the Heights'' moved to its new release date of June 18, 2021. Prior to this, on March 19, Universal and Illumination announced that '' Minions: The Rise of Gru'' had been pulled from its intended release date of July 3, 2020, not only due to the pandemic but also due to the temporary closing of its French Illumination Mac Guff animation studio in response to the pandemic, which would leave the film's animation to be unfinished on its original date. On April 1, 2020, the film was rescheduled for July 2, 2021 taking the planned release date of ''

Sing 2 ''Sing 2'' is a 2021 American computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to ''Sing'' (2016) and the second film in the franchise, it was again written and directed ...

'', a year after its original date. The August 26 release of ''Tenet'' marked the first major American

blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

film to be released theatrically. Due to safety concerns in the United States, the film premiered in 70 international markets through a staggered release model, before being released in select U.S. cities on September 3. Its box office revenue had reached $150 million by September 6, 2020, with a modest $20 million in the United States. In September 2020, Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Tony Vinciquerra stated that the company will not release any big budget films to theatres until the pandemic is over. On October 2, ''No Time to Die'' was delayed once more to April 2, 2021, due to a requirement for the film to have "a worldwide theatrical audience". This came amid continued closures of cinemas in the key U.S. markets of Los Angeles and New York City, as well the reinstatement of restrictions in the United Kingdom due to a second wave. As Universal Pictures held the international distribution rights to ''No Time to Die'', its film '' F9'' was delayed to May 28, 2021 (

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

weekend) as to not cannibalize ''it''. ''No Time to Die'' has since been postponed again to September 30 in the UK and October 8 in the U.S. In March 2021, ''F9'' was postponed once again to June 25. The lack of theatrical releases from Hollywood studios resulted in an

film—'' Demon Slayer: Mugen Train''—becoming the first non-Hollywood film to ever top the annual worldwide box office. The film benefited from Japan's relative control of the pandemic at the time of its release, the popularity of the

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

, and reduced competition from international films. With both Los Angeles and New York City having allowed cinemas to reopen by March 2021, it was expected that film distributors would be more confident in releasing higher-profile films. During that month, Disney announced that ''Black Widow'' would open in theaters on July 9, 2021 and would also be available on Disney+ the same day with Premier Access, following the same release strategy that was used for one of the company's other films, ''

Raya and the Last Dragon ''Raya and the Last Dragon'' ( ) is a 2021 American computer-animated fantasy action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 59th film produced by the studio, it wa ...

''. Two more of Disney's films, '' Cruella'' and ''Jungle Cruise'', were also given this hybrid release. Despite the United States' progress on vaccination, spread of

Delta variant The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) was a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was first detected in India in late 2020. The Delta variant was named on 31 May 2021 and had spread to over 179 countries by 22 November 2021. The ...

intensified across the country in July 2021. As there was not yet a COVID-19 vaccine authorized for children younger than 12, a number of studios announced plans to delay films targeting families or pursue hybrid premium video on-demand (PVOD)/streaming releases; on July 31, Paramount Pictures cancelled the release of ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' initially scheduled for September, and later rescheduled it for November with a hybrid release on

Paramount+ Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...

, while

United Artists Releasing United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studio ...

's ''

The Addams Family 2 ''The Addams Family 2'' is a 2021 computer-animated supernatural black comedy road film directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, co-directed by Laura Brousseau and Kevin Pavlovic, written by Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, and Su ...

'' was also shifted to a hybrid PVOD release. On August 12, Sony Pictures delayed the release of '' Venom: Let There Be Carnage'' by three weeks to October 15, citing Delta variant, while it was also reported that Sony was planning to sell the distribution rights to '' Hotel Transylvania: Transformania'' to a streaming service. On September 1, 2021, Paramount announced that the releases of '' Jackass Forever'', '' Top Gun: Maverick'' and '' Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One'' would be delayed to February 2022, May 2022, and July 2023, respectively, amid surging cases of Delta variant. Some films still went on with exclusive theatrical releases; Disney decided against a hybrid release for ''

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 25th film ...

'', and used a 45-day theatrical window; it went on to gross $90 million over the four-day Labor Day long weekend, the largest four-day total for a Labor Day release since '' Halloween'' in 2007. By late-September, it had become the highest-grossing film of 2021 in the U.S. and Canada, and the first film since COVID-19 to surpass $200 million in the domestic box office. The success of ''Shang-Chi'' led to the re-evaluation of hybrid releases by Disney, which announced on September 10 that all of its remaining films for 2021 would be released exclusively in theaters. On September 6, Sony moved the release date of ''Venom: Let There be Carnage'' up to October 1, 2021, replacing ''Hotel Transylvania'' on its schedule after selling it to Amazon Prime Video in a nearly $100 million deal. The film would become the second film to surpass $200 million during the pandemic. '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'', a Marvel Cinematic Universe film distributed by Sony Pictures, was released on December 17, 2021, and grossed over $601 million in its opening weekend. It also became the first film since '' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'' (2019) to exceed a gross of $1 billion in the global box office. By early-January 2022, it had grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, overtaking '' The Avengers'' as the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time. The popularity of ''No Way Home'', as well as other pandemic-related factors, were cited in the box office failure of another prominent holiday release, Steven Spielberg's ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

''; despite positive reviews, analysts argued that the film skewed towards an older audience (mainly adult women) that was still hesitant to see films in theatres due to COVID-19 risks (especially with the recent emergence of

), may have lacked a prominent star, and further argued that there had been a trend of live action musical films falling out of favour among audiences (citing examples such as 2019's '' Cats,'' and 2021 releases ''

'' and ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a tr ...

).''

Early home media releases

The 2019 sequel ''

Frozen II ''Frozen 2'' (stylized as ''Frozen II'') is a 2019 American computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 58th animated film produced by the studi ...

'' was originally planned to be released on

on June 26, 2020, before it was moved up to March 15. Disney CEO Bob Chapek explained that this was because of the film's "powerful themes of perseverance and the importance of family, messages that are incredibly relevant". On March 16, 2020, Universal announced that ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devo ...

'', '' The Hunt'', and '' Emma'' – all films in theaters at the time – would be available through premium video on demand as early as March 20 at a suggested price of each. After suffering poor box office since its release at the start of March, ''Onward'' was made available to purchase digitally on March 21, and was added to Disney+ on April 3. Paramount announced on March 20, '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' was also planning to have an early release to video on demand, on March 31. On March 16, Warner Bros. announced that ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

'' would be released early to video on demand on March 24. Three days later, the studio then announced that '' The Way Back'' would also be available on video on demand the same date as ''Birds of Prey''. On April 3, Disney announced that ''

Artemis Fowl ''The Fowl Adventures'' is a series of eleven fantasy novels written by Irish author Eoin Colfer revolving around various members of the Fowl family. The first cycle, ''Artemis Fowl'', follows elf LEP recon officer Holly Short as she faces t ...

'', a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name, would be released straight to Disney+ on June 12, skipping a theatrical release entirely. Chinese regulators, as well as the U.S.

, have highly discouraged film distributors from engaging in this practice, in defense of the cinema industry. '' Trolls World Tour'' (sequel to the 2016 film) was released directly to video-on-demand rental upon its release on April 10, with limited theatrical screenings in the U.S. via drive-in cinemas. NBCUniversal CEO

Jeff Shell Jeff Shell is an American media executive who currently serves as the CEO for NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Career In 2001, Shell served as president of FOX Cable Network Group and then as president of Comcast Programming Group. In 20 ...

told ''The Wall Street Journal'' on April 28 that the film had reached $100 million in revenue, and stated that the company had not ruled out performing releases "in both formats" as cinemas reopen. On April 28, in response to Shell's comments, American chain

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...

announced that it would cease the screening of Universal Pictures films effective immediately, and threatened similar actions against any other exhibitor who "unilaterally abandons current windowing practices absent good faith negotiations between us". On July 28, the two companies announced an agreement allowing Universal the option to release a film to premium video on demand after a minimum of 17 days in its theaters, with AMC receiving a cut of revenue. Universal later reached similar pacts with

Cinemark Theatres Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (stylized as CineMark from 1998 to 2022 and CINEMARK since 2022) is an American movie theater chain that started operations in 1984 and since then it has operated theaters with hundreds of locations throughout the Americ ...

and Cineplex Entertainment. In a strategy called

virtual cinema Virtual cinema is a video-on-demand streaming service facilitated by independent film distributors and art-house theaters to release new films and share profits. Under the service, part of the admission price supports a physically located theater. ...

, some film distributors have created new partnerships with small movie theaters and art houses to provide a portion of online streaming sales, including

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

, Film Movement,

Music Box Films Music Box Films is a distributor of foreign and independent film in theatrical, DVD/Blu-ray, and video-on-demand markets in the United States. Based in Chicago, Music Box Films is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corpor ...

Hope Runs High Hope Runs High is an American film distribution company. They began preserving and distributing out-of-print documentary films digitally before expanding to narrative and first-run theatrical films. A unique element of their library is that much of ...

, and Oscilloscope Labs. Warner Bros. Pictures announced in December 2020 that it would simultaneously release its slate of 2021 films both as theatrical releases and available for streaming on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

for a period of one month. This approach, called "Project Popcorn", led to many filmmakers, production companies and theater chains to voice their disappointment and displeasure over the move, especially since they were not informed and consulted with over the move, as well as in regards to contractual and legal obligations. In March 2021, it was announced that Warner Bros. would discontinue same-day releases in 2022, as part of an agreement the studio reached with

Cineworld Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...

(which operates

Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...

), and would instead use a 45-day exclusive release window for theaters. The studio made a similar deal with AMC Theatres in August 2021.

's ''

Luca The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) is the most recent population from which all organisms now living on Earth share common descent—the most recent common ancestor of all current life on Earth. This includes all cellular organisms; th ...

'' went directly to Disney+ in the U.S. and Canada on June 18, 2021, along with a simultaneous limited run at the

El Capitan Theatre El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entertainment Centre) is owned by The Walt Disney Company and serves as the ...

. The 2021 films '' The Boss Baby: Family Business'' and ''

Halloween Kills ''Halloween Kills'' is a 2021 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Danny McBride and Scott Teems. It is the sequel to 2018's ''Halloween'' and the twelfth installment in the'' Halloween'' franchise. The ...

'', both distributed by Universal Pictures, received similtaneous releases in theaters and on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...

. During the summer of that year, Paramount Pictures announced that it would release '' PAW Patrol: The Movie'' on

on the same day as its theatrical release. The studio also decided to cancel the theatrical release of '' Rumble'' and instead released it on the streaming service on December 15, 2021.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...

released ''

Encanto ''Encanto'' is a 2021 American computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 60th film produced by the studio, it was directed by Jared B ...

'' on Disney+ 30 days after an exclusive theatrical run. On January 7, 2022, it was announced that the Pixar film ''

Turning Red ''Turning Red'' is a 2022 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was directed by Domee Shi in her feature directorial debut, written by Sh ...

'' would be skipping theaters entirely in the United States and Canada and would instead be released to Disney+ on March 11 along with one-week limited engagements at the El Capitan Theatre, AMC Empire 25, and Grand Lake Theatre, as well as several

Showcase Cinema de Lux Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) * Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 195 ...

venues across the United Kingdom, amid the surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant. In the following months, Universal Pictures announced that four more of their films, '' Marry Me'', '' Firestarter'', ''

Halloween Ends ''Halloween Ends'' is a 2022 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Danny McBride, Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier. It is the sequel to ''Halloween Kills'' (2021), the thirteenth installment in the ''Ha ...

'', and '' Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.'' would be released to Peacock on the same day as their theatrical releases.

Productions

Film productions in the key outbreak zones (predominantly China, South Korea, and Italy) have changed their schedules, changed location, or have shut down completely. Sony Pictures closed its offices in London, Paris, and Poland after an employee was thought to have been exposed to the virus. The

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

and

have canceled all in-person meetings. The

Hengdian World Studios Hengdian World Studios () is a film studio located in Hengdian, a Chinese town in the city of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province. It is one of the largest film studios in the world. The movie studio is operated by the privately owned Hengdian Group fo ...

Dongyang () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua in Central Zhejiang Province, China. It covers an area of and administers eleven towns, one township, and six subdistricts. It is part of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Region. As ...

, China, has closed indefinitely. The Philippine movie studios Star Cinema,

Regal Entertainment Regal Entertainment, Inc. (formerly and more commonly known as Regal Films) is a Philippine film production company based in Pasig. It was founded by Lily Monteverde on August 19, 1962. It has produced movies of all genres; and is the oldest s ...

, and

Cinema One Originals The Cinema One Originals Film Festival, a division of ABS-CBN Films commonly known as Cinema One Originals, is an independent film festival in the Philippines held annually in the month of November in Quezon City. Its primary goal is to showcase ...

also suspended shooting of their films, effective March 15, the same day as a quarantine in

and

Cainta Cainta, officially the Municipality of Cainta ( fil, Bayan ng Cainta, ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 376,933 people. It is one of the oldest municip ...

, Rizal was enacted. Several Chinese and Hong Kong films have stopped production, including ''Blossoms'', the upcoming film directed by

Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...

, which was scheduled to shoot in Shanghai;

Jia Zhangke Jia Zhangke ( zh, c=贾樟柯, p=Jiǎ Zhāngkē, born 24 May 1970) .He is a Chinese-language film and television director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and writer. He is the dean of the Shanxi Film Academy of Shanxi Media College and the dea ...

's next film, which was planning to begin filming in China in April, but has been put on hold until at least next spring, with Zhangke saying he might even rewrite the script; and ''Polar Rescue'', a

Donnie Yen Donnie Yen Chi-tan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, and action director. Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by cho ...

film, which shut down production until the end of the year. One of the first big production shutdowns was that of '' Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One'', which was scheduled to begin filming in Venice, Italy when the crew was sent home and the sets left behind. After actor

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

became infected with the coronavirus, the Elvis Presley biopic he was working on in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia was shut down, with everyone on the production put into quarantine. Production company

began working with the Australian public health services to identify other people who may have been in contact with Hanks and his wife

Rita Wilson Rita Wilson (born Margarita Ibrahimoff; October 26, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include ''Volunteers'' (1985), '' Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993), '' Now and Then'' (1995), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996) ...

, who had been performing at venues including the Sydney Opera House shortly before both were tested positive. The Marvel Studios film ''

'', which was also shooting in Australia, had its first unit production temporarily suspended on March 12, 2020, due to director

Destin Daniel Cretton Destin Daniel Cretton is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his films '' Short Term 12'' (2013), '' The Glass Castle'' (2017), ''Just Mercy'' (2019) and the Marvel Studios film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' (2021). He h ...

self-isolating while awaiting results for a coronavirus test, which came back negative. The

Association of Independent Commercial Producers The Association of Independent Commercial Producers, or AICP, is an American not for profit organization that represents the interests of United States companies that specialize in commercial production. Its members work in various media—film, v ...

(AICP) released a set of guidelines and work place practices in early-May 2020 as restrictions began to lift across the U.S. This set included specific guidelines for all departments and worksites involved in productions. An industry task force of studios and unions submitted a report on June 1, 2020, with various recommendations on health and safety guidelines for cast and crew of productions. These guidelines include regular testing, wearing face coverings at all times when not filming, actors practicing social distancing "whenever possible", reducing or modifying scenes involving "close contact", and recommending that casting be performed via videoconferencing or self-recorded video rather than in-person. On June 5, 2020, Governor of California

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...

announced that film and television production could resume in the state beginning June 12, provided that conditions permit and approval is received from a county's public health officials. Newsom incorporated key guidelines from the task force's report. The next day, a group of unions (including the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

, the

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

, the

International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...

, and

) published a 36-page report detailing safety protocols agreed upon for union film and television productions, including regular testing of cast and crew members, closed sets, access zones, shooting limited to 10-hour sessions, and all productions requiring an on-set health safety supervisor. On February 9, 2021, it was announced that Blue Sky Studios, a computer animation studio which had been acquired by Disney during its purchase of 21st Century Fox, would be closed due to the economic impact of the pandemic on their business operations. The closure of Blue Sky also resulted in its cancellation of a film adaptation of '' Nimona'', which was reported to be 75% complete.

Exhibitors

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The stock of exhibitors, companies that own and finance showing films in cinemas and theaters, continued falling even as the global stock market rebounded. Mid-week on March 4, 2020, Cinemark fell by 0.53% and

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

by 3.5%. That day, ''No Time to Die'' had its release postponed; by March 6, AMC's shares had fallen by 30% over two weeks. Between March 4 and 6,

's shares fell 20%, and fell another 24% on March 12. The falls result from a combination of AMC closing selected cinemas in Italy and the lack of confidence in the market created by ''No Time to Die'' moving its release date; other new releases on its original opening weekend will not be as much of a draw for moviegoers and could result in financial losses for the chains showing them. The in-theater advertising company National CineMedia also reported stock falling, by 1.25% on March 4. By March 12, Cinemark, AMC and National CineMedia stocks had all fallen by over 35% since the beginning of the month. Cineworld, the world's second-largest cinema chain, warned on March 12, when multiple films pushed back their releases, that extended disruption and continuing falling stock could cause the company to collapse. In August 2020, California announced a new color-coded tier system that would allow restrictions to be lifted in specific counties based on health metrics, effective August 31. Cinemas would be allowed to operate at limited capacity if a county is in the red (""Substantial") tier or better. This would scale from at 25%/100 patrons (whichever is smaller) in red counties, to 50%/200 patrons in orange ("Moderate") counties, and 50% with no hard maximum in counties under the lowest yellow ("Minimal") tier. The majority of the state was still in the purple ("Widespread") tier at the onset of the system, where cinemas remained closed. These health orders can still be superseded with stricter rules by local officials. On October 3, after ''No Time to Die'' was delayed until April 2021, it was reported that Cineworld was considering suspending the operations of all of its cinemas in the UK and Ireland, and most US

indefinitely, citing the lack of tentpole releases as impacting its business. The company confirmed the move on October 5, with CEO Mooky Greidinger stating that it was too expensive to continue operating its cinemas without a consistent lineup of new releases (having initially planned to hold out until ''No Time to Die'' was released), and argued that the continued closure of cinemas in the state of New York has made studios reluctant to release films due to the underperformance of ''Tenet''. The closures excluded seven Regal locations in California that had recently been allowed to reopen. Although

San Francisco County San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

began to allow cinemas to reopen on October 7, the majority of cinemas remain closed due to a boycott by the National Association of Theatre Owners of California/Nevada, due to local guidelines prohibiting the sale of concessions. The group stated that this restriction "makes it economically impossible for our members to reopen and significantly limits the moviegoing experience for our audiences." Cinemark announced later that month that it would reopen selected cinemas in the Bay Area and

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together f ...

, operating in compliance with the concessions prohibition. On October 17, New York announced that it will allow cinemas outside New York City and situated in counties with a 14-day average of cases below 2% to reopen on October 23, at a maximum capacity of 50 patrons per-screen. On November 9, 2020, Regal announced that the selected California and New York locations it had recently reopened would close indefinitely November 12. The same day, the share prices of AMC, Cinemark, and Disney rose on early reports by

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

on the efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine in development by the company and

BioNTech BioNTech SE ( ; or short for Biopharmaceutical New Technologies) is a German biotechnology company based in Mainz that develops and manufactures active immunotherapies for patient-specific approaches to the treatment of diseases. It develop ...

. On March 5, 2021, cinemas in New York City were given authorization to reopen, subject to the same 50-patron limit as the remainder of the state. On March 11, after Los Angeles County moved from purple to red on the ''Blueprint for a Safer Economy'', the

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) provides public health services to Los Angeles County residents. Barbara Ferrer is the Director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Muntu Davis, MD, MPH is the Los Angel ...

(LACDPH) gave authorization for cinemas to resume operations in the area at 25% capacity. 42 of the approximately 107 cinemas (as of 2019) in the LA area had resumed operations by March 26, with some chains and independent cinemas expecting to reopen over the next few weeks for the opening of '' Godzilla vs. Kong''. Two weeks later, movie theaters in Los Angeles began reopening with 25% capacity. On March 23, 2021, Regal Cinemas announced that they would reopen their cinemas beginning April 2, 2021. On April 19, it was announced that capacity for New York cinemas would be raised to 33% on April 26. The same day, California issued an addendum that orange-tier counties would be restricted to 50% with no hard cap on patrons, and that counties under the yellow ("Minimal") tier would be allowed to operate cinemas and other selected venues at up to 75% capacity if all attendees present proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test. Guidance was also issued for seating sections with less physical distancing for those who are fully vaccinated. After filing for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...

in October 2020 and March 2021, respectively, Studio Movie Grill and

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

respectively emerged from Chapter 11 in late-April 2021 and early-June 2021 with new funding, and some underperforming locations closed along with plans for new theaters being built. On April 21, 2021, The Decurion Corporation, parent company of Arclight Cinemas, the

Cinerama Dome Pacific Theatres' Cinerama Dome is a movie theater located at 6360 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Designed to exhibit widescreen Cinerama films, it opened November 7, 1963. The original developer was William R. Forman, founder of Pa ...

, and Pacific Theaters, announced they would be shutting down all of its locations, due to the financial impact of the pandemic. Two months later, Pacific Theaters filed for

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debto ...

. In the following months, the leases to many former Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters locations were acquired by other movie theater chains such as Regal Cinemas, AMC Theatres, and Landmark Theaters. In June 2022, it was announced that Decourion Corp. has plans to reopen the Cinerama Dome and former 14-screen Arclight Hollywood cinema. In September of that year, it was reported that the locations would not be reopening until at least the latter part of 2023. During that month, Cineworld filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and closed 12 U.S. cinemas. On May 3, 2021, the governors of Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York jointly announced that they planned to lift most capacity restrictions on businesses on May 19; for cinemas in New York, they would not be limited in how many patrons may be present, but there must be

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dis ...

between groups. On May 4, Los Angeles County was moved to yellow ("Minimal") tier by state health officials, but the LACDPH did not allow cinemas to use the 75% option. Due to progress on vaccination, New York and California lifted capacity restrictions, including those on cinemas, in June 2021. By August 2021, however, due to spread of Delta variant and waning vaccination rates nationwide, New York City (where only 55% of residents were fully-vaccinated) announced on August 3 that effective September 13, access to indoor entertainment venues (including cinemas) will be restricted to those who are vaccinated. In October 2021, Los Angeles announced that starting November 4 residents will be required to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to enter movie theaters. In March 2022, India’s two largest cinema chains PVR Cinemas and INOX Leisure agreed to merge following the impact of COVID-19 on the country's cinemas.

Streaming services

The

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noted that the popularity of streaming services could increase, especially if more people are isolated at home, with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' suggesting that non-blockbuster films may be sent to streaming more quickly than anticipated after release, to catch this market. One popular film to stream was 2011's '' Contagion'', which moved up from being the 270th most-watched Warner Bros. film in December 2019 to become its 2nd most-watched film in 2020 (by March) and entered the top 10 on iTunes film rentals, ostensibly due to the similarities its story bears to the outbreak. The stock of

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

increased in 2020 by March 12. The platform had released its original

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak'' at the end of January 2020. Disney+ went live in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

on March 11 via its domestic service

Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both d ...

, eighteen days before it was set to, though Disney's shares had fallen by 23% on March 9.

Insurance

In various trade publications and media outlets, insurance brokers from Front Row Insurance Brokers Inc. have provided commentary on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema, and specifically on film production insurance. COVID-19 made film production insurance more difficult to obtain for many productions. Many insurance companies added "communicable disease exclusions" to these policies, meaning that the film insurance would not cover losses caused by COVID-19. The only film insurance solutions offering COVID-19 coverage came with very high premiums; much higher than productions were used to paying (pre-COVID).

References

External links

*BBC '' Talking Movies''
Coronavirus puts film industry in 'turmoil'
March 12, 2020 *Shoard, Catherine, ''The Guardian''
'Over one hour everything was cancelled' – how coronavirus devastated the film industry
March 20, 2020 *Burke, Kristin M., ''The Guardian''
Reports of the death of the film industry have been greatly exaggerated
April 14, 2020 *Crucchiola, Jordan, ''Vulture''

July 24, 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema 2020 in film