Opinion - Why UK Cinemas will close until 2021

So it has taken me a few days to put anything up about this subject but it has been officially announced that Cineworld will be shutting all of its UK and US cinemas for the rest of 2020 due to the lack of blockbuster films set to hit in 2020. This news came about after the new James Bond film No Time To Die was delayed until April 2021, and while this is sad news for film fans and staff alike I understand the decision and this is why I think other companies like Odeon and Vue will follow suit. 

Tenet's Low Box Office Scared Other Studios

So since Lockdown the one big budget film to be released was the Christopher Nolan directed Tenet and though I really enjoyed it and thought it was a film that is best watched on a cinema screen the general public didn't agree. Considering the situation the Box Office wasn't that bad, but it was not good enough for a huge budget movie and that clearly scared off the studios and made them decide that patience was best for them. 

Death On The Nile, Dune & Wonder Woman 1984 will all move to 2021

The only big budget films that are still set to come out this year are the Murder On The Orient Express sequel Death On The Nile, Dune and Wonder Woman 1984, but Cineworld have called their bluff here and closed anyway. Clearly these films are huge in scale and need to make plenty of money to hit their targets and with this news there is no way these films will keep there 2020 release dates and will move to when all the cinemas are back open. 

Cineworld is the largest Cinema chain in The UK, if they are worried, the other Cinema chains should be terrified

It is fact that Cineworld is the largest Cinema chain in The UK and with that shutting it is clear that the other will have to follow its lead. I just can't see Odeon and Vue being able to justify staying open from now till January with no new films to entice people, there are only so many old films you can convince people to see. 

Streaming offers people with safer watching 

Another factor that has to come into play is that of streaming. Why would people risk going to the cinema right now if they can just stay at home and watch something on Amazon Prime, Netflix or Disney+. Without those big name new movies people just aren't willing to go to The Cinema which makes this decision worthwhile. 

Overall

Overall, this is obviously sad news, with other businesses getting back on their feet, it seems like Cinema is going to be recovering for some way to come. Lets just hope that when things get back to a more normal that people support their cinemas and help them succeed and recover.