Hollywood and the movie industry will never be the same following the pandemic. Theaters were closed and studios had to postpone production and releases to next year or send movies to streaming services or digital rental platforms. Even when theaters opened, titles were available online sooner than usual, affecting box office sales. Here are some of the changes 2020 brought to the industry.
90-Day Window
To this year, studio’s newest blockbusters had to play in cinemas for 90 days before they could be released to home entertainment. But now instead of a neat model, many think it would be better for studios to determine based on the film how long the movies stay in theaters. An example of this was with the hybrid release of Wonder Woman 1984, which was released in theaters and on HBO Max Christmas day.
Releasing Films of Platforms
New movies have skipped theaters and gone straight to streaming platforms. Netflix has realeased David Fincher’s Mank, Spike Lee’s Da Five Blood, George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky, and Aaron Sorkin The Trial of the Chicago 7 in 2020. Apple, Amazon, and Hulu also released new films including Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and Lee Daniels’ upcoming The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
