Bypassing cinemas would kill the movie industry’s golden goose
Trolls World Tour’s successful digital launch will tempt all movie studios to do the same, but that would destroy the model that premiumises their product.
By Mark Ritson
The fans of which movie franchise lobbied its producers to delay the release of the latest movie in the sequence? It’s probably destined to be an entertainment question in a future edition of Trivial Pursuit. The answer is Bond. James Bond.
Specifically, No Time to Die. After several delays, Bond’s 25th outing was scheduled for release on 3 April. But as coronavirus concerns grew, it became apparent that asking tens of millions of people to spend two hours together in an enclosed space in early April was probably not a particularly good idea.
To the immense credit of the two major fan sites for all things Bond, MI6 Confidential and The James Bond Dossier, an open letter was sent to the film’s distributors from both collective fan bases. It asked that the film’s global release be postponed until later in the year when the virus had abated. “It is time to put public health above marketing release schedules,” the letter concluded.
MGM and Eon Productions complied with the request and No Time to Die was pushed out to November. Even Bond, it would seem, was vulnerable to coronavirus.
And that was the last major movie moment of 2020. Within a few weeks every cinema on the planet had posted an optimistic message on its external fascia, where the latest films would usually be promoted, switched off the popcorn machine and closed up shop.
