Theater Owners Group Urges Hollywood to Release Movies and “Deal With The New Normal”

The head of the National Association of Theater Owners, John Fithian, spoke about the latest “Tenet” delay, and, lo and behold, he is angry beyond belief with Warner Bros.’ decision to push Christopher Nolan’s film beyond summer 2020 [via Variety].

“Distributors should stick with their dates and release their movies because there’s no guarantee that more markets will be open later this year,” said Fithian. “Until there’s a vaccine that’s widely available, there will not be 100% of the markets open. Because of that, films should be released in markets where it is safe and legal to release them and that’s about 85% of markets in the U.S. and even more globally. They should release their movies and deal with this new normal. Studios may not make the same amount of money that they did before, but if they don’t start distributing films, there’s going to be a big hole in their balance sheets.

The gist of Fithian’s argument for reopening lies in his belief that Nolan’s film should be released regionally in the US, in states where theaters are allowed to reopen, instead of waiting for New York and California’s lockdowns to end. Is it a viable option? Well, not on-paper since NY and California account for more than half of the countr'’s box-office receipts. Have fun convincing studios to lose money by not having their big releases play in the two biggest markets of the country. It doesn’t make an ounce of sense, business-wise.

Another rumor surrounding “Tenet” has the WB releasing the film in Europe before opening it up in the U.S. weeks, maybe months later, this would be a peculiar way of dealing with a film release, but, then again, these are very peculiar and unique times. Those who want to see “Tenet,” sooner rather than later, might want to fly to Europe, as it seems likely to open there first. “We are not treating “Tenet” like a traditional global day-and-date release, and our upcoming marketing and distribution plans will reflect that,” the WB explained. Of course, the downside to such a release would be the raised concerns about piracy and spoilers in a way that could impact the film’s box-office.