Animated movies in theaters post-Coronavirus

[Light Lucario]

What I meant in "reconsidering a theatrical release" was that they would cancel the US straight-to-VOD release and put it in US theatres next year instead, depending on if the film is successful in Canadian theatres.

That might be kind of risky. There's no guarantee that movie theaters are going to be a safer or more viable option. Studios are obviously hoping for that to happen and I can't blame them, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen. Just because the movie does well in Canada doesn't mean that they're going to put it in theaters in the U.S., especially when I assume that cases in the U.S. are much higher than they are in Canada at the moment. Giving this movie the VOD release treatment makes more sense than waiting for it to possibly be safer for theaters next year.

Well, the FDA may make an emergency approval soon on a treatment developed by the University of California San Francisco called "AeroNabs", which can be administered in nasal spray and inhaler form. Something before a vaccine comes, and something movie theatres (and any other indoor business) should implement until then.

‘AeroNabs’ Promise Powerful, Inhalable Protection Against COVID-19

UCSF scientists have devised a novel approach to halting the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease.

www.ucsf.edu

They ideally need to take the time necessary to do testing for these kind of treatments before making them available to the general public. The idea of having some treatment to make some places safer before a vaccine sounds great. I'd love for people to be safer, for businesses to function more properly and to just have less external and internal stress during this chaos in general. I'd just be very concerned and skeptical over any emergency approval treatment like that. As bad as the situation already is, I'd just be worried if the treatment either proves to be ineffective or causes more side effects and they missed out on learning about that until it's too late because they rushed it out the door.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Giving this movie the VOD release treatment makes more sense than waiting for it to possibly be safer for theaters next year.

Unfortunately, the VOD release is already scheduled for next year, but like I said before, I hope that changes to a theatrical one as time passes.

 

[Light Lucario]

Unfortunately, the VOD release is already scheduled for next year, but like I said before, I hope that changes to a theatrical one next year.

Oh, I thought that it was going to be released later this summer or the fall, but I might be mixing that up with the initial theatrical release date. Unless something drastically changes sooner rather than later, I wouldn't be betting on a family/kids movie like Spongebob going to theaters next year.

 

[The Overlord]

That might be kind of risky. There's no guarantee that movie theaters are going to be a safer or more viable option. Studios are obviously hoping for that to happen and I can't blame them, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen. Just because the movie does well in Canada doesn't mean that they're going to put it in theaters in the U.S., especially when I assume that cases in the U.S. are much higher than they are in Canada at the moment. Giving this movie the VOD release treatment makes more sense than waiting for it to possibly be safer for theaters next year.



They ideally need to take the time necessary to do testing for these kind of treatments before making them available to the general public. The idea of having some treatment to make some places safer before a vaccine sounds great. I'd love for people to be safer, for businesses to function more properly and to just have less external and internal stress during this chaos in general. I'd just be very concerned and skeptical over any emergency approval treatment like that. As bad as the situation already is, I'd just be worried if the treatment either proves to be ineffective or causes more side effects and they missed out on learning about that until it's too late because they rushed it out the door.

Yeah, Canada has fewer cases than the US:

Tracking every case of COVID-19 in Canada

Visit CTVNews.ca for an interactive record of the COVID-19 outbreak in Canada.

www.ctvnews.ca

That is a big reason why this film was released in Canada and not the US. Usually Canada is just considered part of the US box office.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Oh, I thought that it was going to be released later this summer or the fall, but I might be mixing that up with the initial theatrical release date. Unless something drastically changes sooner rather than later, I wouldn't be betting on a family/kids movie like Spongebob going to theaters next year.

Me neither. I don't get why he always does stuff like that.

 

[The Overlord]

Well Soul is going to Disney Plus now:

Soul: Pixar Film Moves to Disney+ for Christmas Day Debut

Pixar's animated film Soul will skip theaters for a Dec. 25. debut on Disney+.

www.cbr.com

 

[Cave-Cat-87]

Well Soul is going to Disney Plus now:

Soul: Pixar Film Moves to Disney+ for Christmas Day Debut

Pixar's animated film Soul will skip theaters for a Dec. 25. debut on Disney+.

www.cbr.com

So much for getting to see it at the theater.

 

[MegasMilo379]

Well Soul is going to Disney Plus now

To be honest, I'd rather see Soul in the comfort of my home over in a theater anyway IMO. There is way too much optimism on theaters reopening at this moment during a pandemic; and no matter how many safety guidelines are in place, it Just isn't plausible for the theaters to stay open in this climate because of how they operate. (And please don't tell me how seeing movies at the theaters is like a big event and all; I just don't want to hear it.) Being on Plus is a way cheaper option too (a $7 subscription vs. a $10+ ticket), and I don't have to freshen up or even dress up (I could wear just pajamas) just to go out to see it. I'm still excited to see it nonetheless.
Plus, I have a Dollar Tree near my home... CONCESSION EXPLOSION!

 

[khuddle]

I can't get excited for the movie "Soul". I'm not sure what it is.

(Maybe because Pixar's last outing, "Onward", was hugely underwhelming? Maybe).

 

[The Overlord]

Theatres in Europe are unhappy Soul is going to Disney Plus.

Disney’s ‘Soul’ Decision Upsets European Cinemas

European cinema operators have said they’re devastated by Disney’s decision to release Pixar’s “Soul” directly on streamer Disney Plus, saying the move has “shoc…

www.google.com

 

[Light Lucario]

I can understand why Soul going to Disney+ would upset European cinemas, but at the same time, Disney doesn't have much of a choice. With more movie theaters closing in the U.S., the only options Disney have are delaying the movie more or putting it on their streaming site. Keeping it in theaters for Europe would still mean that they'd lose out on money. Granted, Disney could afford to delay all of their movies for years, rely entirely on their merchandise and still be an insanely rich company, so they're not exactly struggling here either.

Besides that, theaters are just not a safe and viable option to release movies at this point. It's especially strange in a way for European cinemas to claim that theaters are safe when there are talks of the UK entering a second wave too. I'm sure that people enjoyed going to the movie theater again, but I question just how safe the environment really is over there, especially if UK theaters are anything like the ones in the U.S. This is also why I'm less sympathetic towards theater chains. It is terrible that many people could lose their jobs, especially the retail workers within theaters, but at the same time, plenty of higher ups of these theater chains don't have a problem with potentially endangering their employees and customers.

 

[The Overlord]

Big news, Warner Bros is going to release all its 2021 films on HBO Max and in theatres on the same day, including animated films like Tom and Jerry:

Warner Bros. to release all 2021 films to HBO Max, theatres at same time — but only in the U.S.

In Canada, the 2021 Warner Bros. slate will roll out as originally planned: in theatres upon release, but not to streaming services.

globalnews.ca

 

[Light Lucario]

I doubt this plan will go through, especially after Wonder Woman 1984, since the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna will get FDA approval on December 10th and December 17th, respectively, and the former will start to be rolled out on December 14th.

It's still going to take time for those vaccines to be widely spread to the general public. I don't think that the vaccines will mean that places like theaters are going to be completely safe again immediately. From what I understand, people can still possibly carry and transfer the virus even after they get the vaccine. At least one of them also requires two shots a few weeks apart from each other and I think that they're only 95% effective. That is still really effective and it's important to get the vaccine whenever it is available for the general public to get it, but it doesn't mean that the virus will magically go away in an instant. We're still going to need to practice social distancing and wear face masks at least until medical experts say we're in the clear. Considering how bad it is still in the U.S. and other countries, that's going to take a long time. A vaccine won't make everything instantly safer. It will help of course and hopefully fewer people will get sick or worse as a result, but theaters aren't going to be any safer on December 14th than they are now. Reopenings will happen, but they need to be done more gradually instead of opening the flood gates all at once.

You may not like this this simultaneous release for movies and it's obviously your choice to not support it if you don't want to, but they most likely are going to go through with it. It's still going to take time for theaters to reopen, so instead of potentially delaying their movies over and over again, they can have a safe means of releasing movies so that they potentially lose less money. It's also a huge push to get more HBO Max subscribers, which is still effectively more money for WB. It would also be a bad marketing move to back out of the decision now. They already promoted Wonder Woman 1984 as being on HBO Max for awhile and they made a trailer showing a bunch of movies would also be released on their streaming service next year. Changing their minds at this point would just get people who signed up for it upset and they'd want to avoid negative press for their new streaming service.

Whether you like it or not, they are most likely going to follow this release method for at least the next year. It's hard to say whether or not they'll keep it going afterwards. We don't know how successful it will be, when theaters will be completely safe again or if other studios will follow suit. At the very least, I think this release method could become more accepted or expected over time since streaming is already pretty mainstream.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

It's still going to take time for those vaccines to be widely spread to the general public. I don't think that the vaccines will mean that places like theaters are going to be completely safe again immediately. From what I understand, people can still possibly carry and transfer the virus even after they get the vaccine. At least one of them also requires two shots a few weeks apart from each other and I think that they're only 95% effective. That is still really effective and it's important to get the vaccine whenever it is available for the general public to get it, but it doesn't mean that the virus will magically go away in an instant. We're still going to need to practice social distancing and wear face masks at least until medical experts say we're in the clear. Considering how bad it is still in the U.S. and other countries, that's going to take a long time. A vaccine won't make everything instantly safer. It will help of course and hopefully fewer people will get sick or worse as a result, but theaters aren't going to be any safer on December 14th than they are now. Reopenings will happen, but they need to be done more gradually instead of opening the flood gates all at once.

You may not like this this simultaneous release for movies and it's obviously your choice to not support it if you don't want to, but they most likely are going to go through with it. It's still going to take time for theaters to reopen, so instead of potentially delaying their movies over and over again, they can have a safe means of releasing movies so that they potentially lose less money. It's also a huge push to get more HBO Max subscribers, which is still effectively more money for WB. It would also be a bad marketing move to back out of the decision now. They already promoted Wonder Woman 1984 as being on HBO Max for awhile and they made a trailer showing a bunch of movies would also be released on their streaming service next year. Changing their minds at this point would just get people who signed up for it upset and they'd want to avoid negative press for their new streaming service.

Whether you like it or not, they are most likely going to follow this release method for at least the next year. It's hard to say whether or not they'll keep it going afterwards. We don't know how successful it will be, when theaters will be completely safe again or if other studios will follow suit. At the very least, I think this release method could become more accepted or expected over time since streaming is already pretty mainstream.

You already responded to a similar comment of mine on the HBO Max thread in the Entertainment forum. We really don’t need to argue about this now.

 

[Light Lucario]

You already responded to a similar comment of mine on the HBO Max thread in the Entertainment forum. We really don’t need to argue about this now.

I wasn't really arguing with you and for what it's worth, my intent was not to start a debate/argument. I was just explaining why I don't think that the vaccines really mean anything in regards to this plan to release movies on HBO Max. It's still going to take time for places like theaters to be safer regardless of when vaccines are approved and distributed.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

I wasn't really arguing with you and for what it's worth, my intent was not to start a debate/argument. I was just explaining why I don't think that the vaccines really mean anything in regards to this plan to release movies on HBO Max. It's still going to take time for places like theaters to be safer regardless of when vaccines are approved and distributed.

Sorry, what I meant to say that "we really don’t need to talk/discuss about this now". Also, it’s not about when theatres will be a safe place again, but when theatres will open once the vaccines are approved and distributed. (They wouldn’t reopen theatres ON the day the vaccines are approved and distributed, of course, but once enough people are vaccinated, they should, and it doesn’t matter how long the process would take.)

 

[Light Lucario]

Sorry, what I meant to say that "we really don’t need to talk/discuss about this now". Also, it’s not about when theatres will be a safe place again, but when theatres will open once the vaccines are approved and distributed. (They wouldn’t reopen theatres ON the day the vaccines are approved and distributed, of course, but once enough people are vaccinated, they should, and it doesn’t matter how long the process would take.)

Theaters will eventually reopen, but I would assume that they would be reopened gradually. It's going to be awhile before theaters can reopen to full capacity since it will definitely take some time for enough people to be vaccinated for a number of reasons, so they still aren't a safe or reliable means of releasing movies.