‘Dune’ ditches 2020, while AMC commits to staying open

Shifting calendar has a domino effect on future releases

LOS ANGELES, Oct 7, (AP): The 2020 theatrical release calendar is getting even slimmer in the wake of the announcement that Regal cinemas are temporarily closing, although AMC, North America’s largest theater chain, says it will remain open.

Warner Bros. said late Monday that its sci-fi pic “Dune” will now open in October 2021, instead of this December. The studio also pushed back “The Batman” to March 2022 and moved up its “Matrix” sequel to Dec. 2021.

AMC Entertainment reiterated its commitment to stay open and cited a slew of upcoming new releases that it will be playing, including this weekend’s new films “The War With Grandpa,” with Robert De Niro, and “Yellow Rose.” Roughly 80% of its US locations are currently open.

With the recent exit of the next James Bond film, that leaves a mere handful of big films set to still open in 2020: Pixar’s “Soul,” on Nov. 20, Universal’s “The Croods: A New Age,” on Nov 25, Disney’s “Death on the Nile,” on Dec. 18 and Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman 1984,” at Christmas. It’s an extra hit to the ailing theatrical industry, which endured six months of closures and has had a difficult time restarting business during the pandemic with key markets like New York still closed and an ever-changing release calendar.

Business has been so shaky that on Monday Cineworld Group Plc said it would temporarily close its 536 Regal cinema locations in the US and 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse venues in the UK on Thursday. And last week leading groups representing movie theaters, movie studios and directors issued a dire plea to Congress for financial help for cinemas. They said nearly 70% of small and mid-size theaters could face bankruptcy or closure without assistance.

AMC CEO Adam Aron said in a statement that the company’s agreement with Universal Pictures to shorten the theatrical window, “puts AMC in a position where we can open our theatres when others may feel the need to close.”

AMC, Aron said, will share in home video on demand revenues with Universal.

But even with new releases on the calendar for the remainder of the year, including high-profile independent and awards contenders like “Nomadland ” and Regina King’s “One Night in Miami,” studios have made it clear that they are skittish about releasing their most expensive properties in such a muted North American box office landscape.

Releases

Warner Bros. helped provide an early test case with Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.” The film has grossed over $307 million globally, but only $45 million of that has come from North America, which is the world’s biggest box office market.

And although there are new films every weekend, back catalog films are regularly claiming spots in the top 10. Just this weekend the 27-year-old “Hocus Pocus” claimed the No. 2 spot and the 40-year-old Star Wars film “The Empire Strikes Back” landed at No. 6.

Since “Tenet,” many studios have pushed at least one big film out of 2020, including “Black Widow,” “No Time to Die” and “West Side Story.” Other films vacated earlier, like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “F9.” And some studios have experimented by pivoting to video-ondemand releases, like Disney did with its live-action “Mulan.”

The shifting calendar has a domino effect on future releases too. When Warner Bros. moved “Dune” to Oct. 1, 2021, it took “The Batman” release date, pushing that film to March 2022.

In the latest blow to the beleaguered film industry, the second-largest movie theater chain in the US is temporarily shuttering its locations Thursday due to a lack of blockbusters on the calendar and major domestic markets like New York remaining closed.

Cineworld Group Plc said Monday that it would close 536 Regal cinemas in the US and 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse venues in the UK this week, affecting some 45,000 employees.

“This is not a decision we made lightly,” said Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger.

In the past few days, the already decimated 2020 release calendar lost another big film in the James Bond pic “No Time to Die.” It is at least partly due to the fact that one of the country’s biggest markets, New York, has not committed to a plan or a date for reopening cinemas in the state.

Cineworld has high debts and is, like the wider industry, struggling with the effects of the pandemic. The absence of the biggest North American markets and a consistent, solid release schedule from Hollywood studios have been devastating to their business.

“We never argued the fact that we needed to be closed until we saw that similar activities to us started to open,” Greidinger said, citing indoor dining. “We cannot be in a situation where we lose more cash when we are open than we lose when we are closed.”