Effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) On Entertainment & Tourism Industry

[Nick]

Post production on Marvel projects is still ongoing (can confirm as I am working on one of them). We're just all working from home. Will D+ dates shift around? Quite possible. But work is very much so still happening.

Well if F&WS can be 100% finished and ready to be released by it's date in August, I still wonder if they hold it or not simply due to potential Black Widow spoilers/Tie-ins.

 

[Mad Dog]

Report from CNBC just now. Video games are seeing holiday season demand at this point in time.......Kind of expected. But now the numbers are confirming that.

 

[Yabbadabba Doh]

Report from CNBC just now. Video games are seeing holiday season demand at this point in time.......Kind of expected. But now the numbers are confirming that.

Yep, you can’t find a Switch in North America right now.

 

[fryoj]

Report from CNBC just now. Video games are seeing holiday season demand at this point in time.......Kind of expected. But now the numbers are confirming that.

Yeah some industries are going to have their best year ever out of this.

 

[HereWeGo]

Well if F&WS can be 100% finished and ready to be released by it's date in August, I still wonder if they hold it or not simply due to potential Black Widow spoilers/Tie-ins.

I can't say for certain, as that's not the show I'm working on, but I could definitely see that being the case. I also don't know how heavy the VFX are in the scenes they still have left to film.

 

[GhostHost85]

Since we are getting to the point where movies that were scheduled to be released in July are getting delayed, does it really seem realistic that parks might open in mid May? If movie theaters can't open, I don't think that theme parks could open either.

 

[fryoj]

Since we are getting to the point where movies that were scheduled to be released in July are getting delayed, does it really seem realistic that parks might open in mid May? If movie theaters can't open, I don't think that theme parks could open either.

That's movies getting moved back, not theaters saying they'll be closed in July. Movies can be pushed off and possibly do just as well as they would have otherwise. Opening them sooner is a bigger risk. There's also the fact that the movies being pushed back now need to be put somewhere, and the movies coming out in summer are on hold because they can't finish production and reshoots.

Theme parks can't just push back re-opening and recoup the money. Every day they are closed they lose money.

While theaters themselves are in a similar situation, the people moving the movies back are moving things back without any real consideration of the theaters.

 

[Nick]

That's movies getting moved back, not theaters saying they'll be closed in July. Movies can be pushed off and possibly do just as well as they would have otherwise. Opening them sooner is a bigger risk. There's also the fact that the movies being pushed back now need to be put somewhere, and the movies coming out in summer are on hold because they can't finish production and reshoots.

Theme parks can't just push back re-opening and recoup the money. Every day they are closed they lose money.

While theaters themselves are in a similar situation, the people moving the movies back are moving things back without any real consideration of the theaters.

If there's nothing to show, the theaters won't be open.

Also, the parks can't just reopen without operating at a loss. They need to announce a date and have people planning vacations. If you just open, then you're simply counting on some hardcore APs and CMs not working to fill your parks. If nobody has vacations booked, the parks are losing even more money being open than if they stayed closed until rooms started to book up a few weeks out.

I think Disney's June 1 date for hotel stays is probably pretty close to when we can expect the parks to be open at the soonest.

 

[fryoj]

If there's nothing to show, the theaters won't be open.

Also, the parks can't just reopen without operating at a loss. They need to announce a date and have people planning vacations. If you just open, then you're simply counting on some hardcore APs and CMs not working to fill your parks. If nobody has vacations booked, the parks are losing even more money being open than if they stayed closed until rooms started to book up a few weeks out.

I think Disney's June 1 date for hotel stays is probably pretty close to when we can expect the parks to be open at the soonest.

No one was suggesting they'd just wake up and say we are opening the parks today. We'll have 2 weeks minimum notice. Possibly longer. Might even be phased re-openings. Just saying they have more to lose delaying the opening than a movie company pushing a release date back. It'll be interesting to see if theaters try to do re-releases or some of these direct to rental movies to get back open, or will they wait for new releases. Smaller theaters will probably throw anything up to re-open. The chains though will be the big question.

 

[Grabnar]

If there's nothing to show, the theaters won't be open.

Also, the parks can't just reopen without operating at a loss. They need to announce a date and have people planning vacations. If you just open, then you're simply counting on some hardcore APs and CMs not working to fill your parks. If nobody has vacations booked, the parks are losing even more money being open than if they stayed closed until rooms started to book up a few weeks out.

I think Disney's June 1 date for hotel stays is probably pretty close to when we can expect the parks to be open at the soonest.

Additionally they need to re-staff and probably do refresher training for everyone coming back in. I think Disney will be the worst off of the parks due to their reliance on the College Program.

 

[JoeCamel]

Additionally they need to re-staff and probably do refresher training for everyone coming back in. I think Disney will be the worst off of the parks due to their reliance on the College Program.

More than a refresher course I think all CMs will get a new playbook. It will be very slow getting up to speed and we may see more mixed messages from frontline CMs than is usual for quite some time.

 

[Nick]

Additionally they need to re-staff and probably do refresher training for everyone coming back in. I think Disney will be the worst off of the parks due to their reliance on the College Program.

I actually think they'll be fine regarding the CP (generally speaking). A new CP is supposed to start at the beginning of May. Obviously that isn't going to start on time, but as long as they give a few weeks notice for park opening, they can get everyone down and trained in a short time.

It'll be interesting to see if theaters try to do re-releases or some of these direct to rental movies to get back open, or will they wait for new releases. Smaller theaters will probably throw anything up to re-open. The chains though will be the big question.

China was putting blockbusters like Avatar and the four Avengers movies back in theaters before they re-closed their theaters. I think it's likely that something similar happens along with something like Onward thrown back in to make a bit more money in theaters. I also think Sony would be wise to throw the original Ghostbusters movie in theaters as a re-release since Afterlife got moved to 2021. Plus, there's plenty of people who are younger that haven't seen the Ghostbusters movies.

 

[HandsomePete]

Yeah some industries are going to have their best year ever out of this.

Apparently it’s almost impossible to find a 1000-piece puzzle.

In 2020.

 

[Nick]

AMC boss is hoping for Mid-June. I've heard Regal has told workers they've laid off that they're thinking closer to July/August.

AMC CEO hopes theaters will reopen by mid-June, optimistic moviegoers will return in droves

The CEO of the largest theater chain in America is hoping to have locations open by mid-June.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Happytycho]

More than a refresher course I think all CMs will get a new playbook. It will be very slow getting up to speed and we may see more mixed messages from frontline CMs than is usual for quite some time.

Agreed. If the parks open anytime soon their initial operations are probably going to look very, very different from what we're used to.

 

[Nick]

Agreed. If the parks open anytime soon their initial operations are probably going to look very, very different from what we're used to.

I’ve heard Disney has extreme plans to put social distancing measures in, especially when it comes to nighttime spectaculars (if they even return at first).

 

[Clive]

I’ve heard Disney has extreme plans to put social distancing measures in, especially when it comes to nighttime spectaculars (if they even return at first).

This has me very, very curious, because while that makes sense for nighttime spectaculars, I have no idea how that could possibly work for compact queues.

With that said... barring a jarring turnaround, we're still looking at the peak hitting mid-April in some areas and mid-May in others (that have been slower to respond). As some have pointed out, I expect other elements of typical society to be restored long before theme parks reopen.

 

[Happytycho]

I’ve heard Disney has extreme plans to put social distancing measures in, especially when it comes to nighttime spectaculars (if they even return at first).

In my opinion, any large entertainment venue that intends to reopen this year should be preparing for significant social distancing and disinfecting measures.

 

[HandsomePete]

College football is going to be interesting - do you let the students or the boosters in?


Just read back through the Disney defunding projects news and comments... made the mistake of looking at Magic to see how they were handing things (not well). Now, in Disney's brief defense, if any other corporation hasn't put a shovel in the ground yet on a construction project, there's a good chance that those plans have been put on hold. The difference is that there aren't internet fan forums discussing future Best Buy distribution centers and Publix doesn't hold fan events to announce where their next stores are going to be built. So there is some sense in waiting 3-6 months to see how things pan out when their projects routinely get stuck in approval purgatory for months at a time anyways.

But...slight thread drift here........ this is what they get when it takes half a decade for any non-trivial project to go from the drawing board to reality. This is what they get when someone who doesn't understand the math behind brick and mortar investments *looks at the current CEO* signs off on major projects that don't actually make money or increase attendance because IP. This is what happens when you don't invest in infrastructure for 15, 20, 25 years and have to catch up over the course of a few years.

Maybe letting WDI turn every good project idea into a barely feasible project wasn't a good idea?

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

AMC boss is hoping for Mid-June. I've heard Regal has told workers they've laid off that they're thinking closer to July/August.

AMC CEO hopes theaters will reopen by mid-June, optimistic moviegoers will return in droves

The CEO of the largest theater chain in America is hoping to have locations open by mid-June.

www.cnbc.com

My personal hope is August (my bday month) and Wonder Woman re-opens the theatre business a bit. Lets hope!!