Movie theaters all across America have had to shut their doors, due the Coronavirus Pandemic. Day after day, more studios are pulling their 2020 movies from the release slate for spring and summer, with many of them being outright shelved until 2021. While the movie industry tries to find ways to bandage all the money it’s now hemorrhaging, moviegoers and analysts alike are trying to predict when theater chains will reopen their doors. Today AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron is speaking up, trying to bring some sense of stability back to the industry, with a new forecast, which predicts theaters re-opening by mid-June of this year.
Speaking with CNBC, the AMC Theaters CEO had this to say about the imminent future plans for his industry:
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“”We said we expected to be shut for six to 12 weeks. That would be May 1 to mid-June. That might be more the right timing… I think if we learned anything in the last two weeks is people just so want to get out of their houses. I think we’re all feeling cooped up and want to get out and have life return to normal.”
Some people may read that and take it as a sign of hope. After all, China recently re-opened its theater chains after having shuttered them since the end of last year; that would be the same kind of timeline the US would follow, if Adam Aron’s prediction is true. However, the current forecast for the impact of COVID-19 infections and deaths is grim, even by best case scenarios. It’s still up in the air if life will truly be back to enough of a leisurely normal that people will be willing to pack back into movie theaters for the summer season. For comparison, China’s theater re-opening may have been very premature, as the Chinese government has once again closed theater chains. No reason for the re-closures has been given, but rumors point to potential second waves of COVID-19 infections being a major worry.
That’s all to say: it’s not crazy to think that the same scenario could be true for the US. The need for revenue will likely push theaters to try for re-opening in the summer; however, experts predict the onset of fall and the new flu season will likely bring a new wave of COVID-19 infections, which would subsequently force a new wave of quarantines and business closures.
If nothing else, the global film industry really may have to consider digital releases as the best to recoup their massive 2020 losses. We’ll keep you updated about how it goes.
