Most recently, Disney announced release dates for The New Mutants and Hamilton.
The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, which was first identifiedin China in December, has had sweeping effects in the public health, business, and travel sectors, among others. And while the repercussions for the entertainment industry may seem to pale in comparison to the clear threat the virus poses to human life, the ripple effects do have implications for thepeople around the world who make a living producing and distributing movies, music, and more.
The immense and lucrative Chinese film industry was hit almost immediately as movie theaters across the country were closed and major releases were delayed. Hollywood soon began to feel the effects, too, and as time passes, the impact of the coronavirus on the global film and entertainment industries will certainly grow.
Consequences of the pandemic on these industries could range from lowered attendance at film festivals and disruptions in film distribution to delayed or canceled movie releases and concert dates to curtailed on-location film shoots. Financial ramifications will likely be felt by studios, filmmakers, theater owners, and more for months or even years.
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Here are the biggest and most significant developments in the entertainment industry in response to the pandemic. Most recently, Disney announced a release date for The New Mutants and Hamilton, Warner Bros. announced new release dates for several upcoming movies, including The Batman and In the Heights, and San Diego Comic-Con was canceled.
K-pop concerts canceled, including BTS shows: On February 28, the hugely popular K-pop group BTScanceled a series of concerts in Seoul. The shows werescheduled for April 11 and 12 and April 18 and 19 at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. The group’s management agency said the decision was made due to the impossibility of predicting the scale of the outbreak in South Korea come April and cited the health and safety of the musicians themselves, workers, and concertgoers. Two hundred thousand fans were expected to attend.
Days earlier, BTS had asked fans to avoid a series of TV appearances scheduled to promote their newest album, Map Of The Soul: 7, which had originally been planned to include studio audiences. The group also appealed to fans via a streamed press conference. “Health is always on our minds these days, and our messages of facing your inner self and loving yourself are ultimately only possible when you’re healthy, especially since it is very risky outside these days,” one of the singers, Jimin, said. ”I hope you take care of yourself.”
The entire Korean entertainment sector has been affected by the outbreak, and K-pop has been hit particularly hard, with groups including GOT7, Winner, Sechs Kies, (G) I-DLE, and others canceling scheduled tour dates. Variety reported that box office revenue in South Korea was down 30 to 40 percent in January 2020 compared to previous years.
SXSW canceled: On March 6, the city of Austin, Texas, declared a state of disaster, requiring the cancellation of public gatherings and events for the near future. The most notable of those is the cancellation of South by Southwest, the annual music, film, TV, and technology festival that serves as a significant financial powerhouse for the city.
The announcement came after a week full of major companies — including Netflix, Apple, Amazon, WarnerMedia, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Mashable, Intel, and more — dropping out of the well-attended event, canceling panels, premieres, and other appearances. Days later, SXSW organizersannounced that they had laid offone-third of the festival’s employees in what they called “a necessary, but heartbreaking, step.”
Emerald City Comic Con delayed: The organizing body behind Emerald City Comic Con, the largest convention of its kind in Seattle, Washington, announced on March 6 that itwill postpone the event until sometime this summer. The event was scheduled to run from March 12 to 16.
“We did everything that we could to run the event as planned, but ultimately, we are following the guidance of the local public health officials indicating that conventions should now be postponed,” convention organizers Reedpop said in a statement published on the Emerald City Comic Con website.
Cannes Film Festival delayed: The 2020 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, arguably the most prestigious film festival in the world, is still in question following an announcement from the festival’s organizers on March 19 that the gathering could be delayed until “late June or early July,” or another time. (The festival had been slated to take place May 12 to 23 and draws thousands of industries and press from around the globe each year.) The festival first issued a statement on February 28 after the first case of coronavirus in nearby Nice, France, was confirmed by the city’s mayor, saying that organizers were monitoring the situation but planned for the festival to go forward. (Cannes is a seaside resort town located on the French Riviera, about 30 km from Nice.)
Coachella delayed: Goldenvoice, the organizers of Coachella,one of the largest annual music festivals in the US, announced on March 10 that the festival would be postponed due to concerns about Covid-19. Another Goldenvoice festival, the country music-oriented Stagecoach, has also been postponed.
The Indio, California-based event was originally set to run for two weekends, April 10-12 and April 17-19, with the same talent lineups performing both weekends. It will now run from October 9-11 and October 16-18. Stagecoach 2020 has been pushed back from April to October 23-25.
Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) canceled: The 2020 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) — the single biggest trade show in the video game industry — has been canceled. The Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the event, announced that it would not go forward with the annual event due to coronavirus fears in California, where E3 takes place. The event was scheduled for June 9 to 11.
The organization said it will contact exhibitors and attendees about receiving full refunds for passes, and that it is considering ways to “coordinate an online experience” in lieu of the in-person event. It also maintains that E3 will return next year as planned.
The NBA suspended basketball games indefinitely: A player on the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus on March 11, leading NBA officials to call off that night’s Jazz game just before tip-off. As a further precautionary measure, the league issued a statement that it would suspend the basketball season “until further notice.”
Prior to putting an early pause on the rest of the season, the NBA made other efforts to protect players and fans. The league barred media from locker rooms, and publicly considered having teams play to empty arenas, before ultimately stopping play altogether.
2020 Tokyo Olympics delayed: On March 24, following pressure from athletes and multiple nations’ Olympic committees, the International Olympic Committee and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics would be postponed, possibly until 2021; on March 30, the dates were set for July 23-August 8,2021.
San Diego Comic-Con 2020 canceled: On April 17, the organizers of San Diego Comic-Con announced that the yearly fan convention will not go on as planned in 2020. The event will resume once again in July 2021 at the San Diego Convention Center. The cancellation marks the first time in Comic-Con’s 50-year history that the event, the largest convention of its kind in the US, will not take place.
Warner Bros. changes release plans: On April 20, Warner Bros. announced changes to its slate. The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, shifted from a release date of June 25,2021, to October 1,2021. The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to The Sopranos, was delayed from September 25,2020, to March 12,2021. King Richard, a biopic about Venus and Serena Williams’ father starring Will Smith, shifted from November 25,2020, to November 19,2021. An untitled Elvis movie moved from October 1,2021 to November 5,2021.
Two DC titles also shifted dates: Shazam! 2 is delayed from April 1,2022 to November 4,2022, and The Flash moved from July 1,2022, to June 3,2022.
So far, the studio’s release dates for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (July 17,2020) and Wonder Woman 1984 (August 14,2020) remain unchanged.
