Overview of the US business for the week of May 4
This week Screendollars is publishing the 2020 Film Industry Survey, available here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/film2020survey. Our survey was created in collaboration with Stephen Follows, the UK-based Film Research analyst. We encourage all our readers and film industry professionals to take five minutes to share your current experience working in the industry and opinions about the future of film and entertainment. Results will be published in two weeks.
Our Industry News Summary begins with coverage of the very public conflict that flared this week between AMC Theatres and Universal over the studio's announcement that the success of its April release of Trolls World Tour as a Premium Video on Demand rental has caused it to re-consider its commitment to exclusive theatrical windows for all its major film releases. AMC Theatres has led the push back from exhibitors, stating that, as a result of Universal's position, AMC would no longer show any of the studio's films at its theatres.
Our news coverage continues with a report on the Academy's announcement that for this year only it would suspend the requirement that films must screen initially in theatres in order to qualify for Oscar consideration. We highlight YouTube's announcement that it is partnering with 20 major film festivals to host "WE ARE ONE: A Global Film Festival" beginning on May 29th. This on-line event will feature some of the best independent films that would have premiered at the individual festivals, before they were postponed or cancelled. We also include an article from the LA Times surveying the list of challenges exhibitors face on the road to re-opening their theatres.
Our Gower Street report quantifies the drop in 2020 global box office when compared with the average box office for the first four months of each of the past three years. The dropoff now stands at a whopping $8.1 billion year-to-date, and will continue to grow while widespread theatre closures continue. However, some relief is on the horizon with the widely expected, gradual reopening of theatres and a calendar of major studio releases beginning to take shape over the second half of the year.
In the Hollywood Report, Martin Grove reminds both studios and exhibitors the extent to which they need each other. Big stakes, high-cost marketing campaigns to launch major theatrical releases are the most reliable way for studios to create the downstream revenues that studios increasingly depend on.
Our film data tables include a calendar of wide release films through the end of the year, consolidating information received from all major studios. We expect this to be a helpful resource for all our readers when making their own recovery plans. We conclude with a list of studio release changes, the MPAA's latest film ratings and a list of upcoming major film releases on streaming and DVD.
