With the coronavirus spreading its way across the world, the entertainment industry has had no choice but to delay several movies and cancel high-profile events.
Major motion pictures such as “No Time to Die” and “Mulan” have had their release dates delayed to later this year. There were also much more drastic delays in release like the ninth “Fast and the Furious” movie, pushed all the way back to April 2021.
Then, to avoid the possibility of the disease spreading, major conventions like SXSW and E3 were canceled, with no word yet on what will happen to summer juggernauts like San Diego Comic-Con. Then, in case you thought things can’t get any worse, actor Tom Hanks and his wife announced this week they had contracted the virus while filming in Australia.
With all that’s happened this week, the entertainment industry is bound to take a huge hit. Experts suggest the global film market will lose $5 billion because of the delays.
Though it’s a bit disappointing to see that the next few months will be a drought for movie releases, we should take solace in knowing they will eventually come out. Granted, delaying a “Fast and the Furious” movie until next year may be a bit too much, but you can’t blame the studio for wanting to play it safe despite the marketing loss with advertising.
Still, the financial losses from these delays will hurt the studios, especially since the likes of “No Time to Die” had plenty of money put into marketing, all of which has now gone to waste.
One industry that hasn’t suffered too much from the pandemic is the gaming industry. You also have to remember that, although the cancelation of E3 is a loss to some, many major publishers like Sony had already made the decision not to appear at the expo.
None of the upcoming games many speculated would be shown off at E3, like “Doom Eternal” and the remake of “Resident Evil 3,” had been pushed back, either. Even though E3 is not happening, this will not stop publishers from making announcements elsewhere since individual press conferences have already been scheduled in place of the convention.
There are still some concerns the virus might push back the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox One Series X, but no concrete information has come out regarding any release date changes.
Though only time will tell what happens next, expect plenty of empty theater auditoriums due to the lack of new movies. If nothing else, gamers can imagine they are slicing the coronavirus in half with a chainsaw while playing “Doom Eternal,” so at least video games will provide us entertainment during these hectic times.
