Thanks to Covid-19, we have witnessed an unprecedented string of events in the film industry that has likely not been seen since World War II with cinemas around the world closing and movie releases everywhere either getting delayed or receiving an early release to VOD and streaming services. This is no doubt having a massive impact on the industry itself and how it used to work, though according to film producer Jason Blum it could be a sign of things to come and accelerate the film industry into a new direction entirely.
The owner and successful producer of Blumhouse Productions shared his thoughts in a recent interview with The Daily Wire, speaking about his recent release The Hunt moving to on-demand services early and how he believes this will be the start of a change in how movies are released:
I think it’s not realistic to think all the studios are going to wait four months before they put a movie at home. They just can’t compete; they’re going to have to compete with Amazon and Netflix and Apple in a different way. There’s going to be shifts. The consumer is going to be more used to staying at home. Something is going to give, there has to be something that’s going to happen post-corona. The movie business will look different after the coronavirus.
For a while now the debate has been raging on the influence of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and now Disney+, and the impact they would have on the global box office. While many have argued that massive blockbuster films would need to rely on cinematic releases to break even, with more and more people subscribing to streaming services and getting used to consuming their entertainment this way, there is no doubt that the release strategy for many films will need to change.
Jason Blum is someone with an intimate knowledge of Hollywood and the filmmaking process and I would hazard a guess that he is right here and we will start seeing more of the bigger studies adopting a streaming strategy for many of their non-blockbuster films. What impact that may have on the theatre business though and the fallout on jobs there is perhaps the biggest concern.
What does your crystal ball reveal will be the future for movie releases?
Last Updated: March 25, 2020
