The movie industry is one of the hardest hit following the global pandemic and, while theaters are still closed in most places on earth right now, it's a foregone conclusion that when they do reopen, there will still be a need for precautions to be taken to attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. One idea that has been floated in many places is re-releasing popular films on the big screen as a way to try and get people back in theaters. To that end, The Dark Knight trilogy has already been booked in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In what is likely being planned as both a special release to get people into theaters, as well as a way to promote Tenet, Christopher Nolan's next movie, which is set to open in July, THR reveals the Batman movies will open weekly in Taiwan beginning May 29 and in Hong Kong beginning June 4.
Movie theaters in the two regions are being cautiously reopened as the COVID-19 situation in Asia appears to be calming down. Having said that, theaters in China began reopening briefly in March before shutting down again amid fears of a second wave of the virus.
It will certainly be interesting to see if domestic movie theaters do something similar once they begin to reopen widely across the nation. On the one hand, seeing popular films on the big screen might be exactly what is necessary to entice some people back to theaters, considering that being in crowds might not be something some are willing to do even when the option is available.
At the same time, there are so many major releases that got pushed back due to the theater closures that it's far from clear there will be any space in the local multiplex for anything other than all the movies that were supposed to come out in April, May, and June. However, if theaters are looking to reopen before new releases are currently slated to hit, which is now largely late July, re-releases may be just the ticket.
Still, you can be sure all the studios are at least considering this. If Disney dusting off the Avengers films is going to help their bottom line it could very well happen. All the studios have lost money due to the closures and so trying to find a way to recoup that loss, not simply get back to business as usual, has to be something all these publicly traded companies are trying to work out.
Of course, there will likely still be some additional hurdles. Odds are that social distancing measures will be in effect when theaters open, resulting in only a fraction of tickets being sold so that people can space out in theaters. That's going to equally limit ticket sales for some time.
Is there a film franchise that would get you back in theaters sooner than another? Let us know in the poll below.
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