For cinema goers 2020 was understandably a year of thin gruel. The advent of Covid-19 meant that many films banking on a big cinema release were shunted to this year – the underwhelming box office performance of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet confirming the wisdom of this choice. Some movies were moved to limited cinema and simultaneous pay-per-view release, such as The Witches and Mulan – a model that Warner Bros have decided to go full tilt with on their streaming service HBO Max. Justifiably this has caused uproar in the creative community, with directors including Nolan and Denis Villeneuve (Dune) particularly vocal.
The first fruits of Warner’s decision were the recent release of Wonder Woman 1984; it’s too early to say whether the box office and streaming revenue backs the strategy. But if it does, expect other studios to follow suit.
Movie releases in 2021 will obviously depend on public confidence in returning to cinemas when it’s possible to do so.
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