As of now, the global box office has already taken a hit of at least $7bn due to the delays and precautions in place owing to the coronavirus outbreak.
In light of the coronavirus-related decisions across film and television, the Hollywood Box Office could be hit with a $20bn loss this year, according to Hollywood Reporter.
Over the past few weeks, a number of high-profile film releases have been delayed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus including the new James Bond film No Time to Die, Disney’s Mulan and New Mutants.
Other films like MGM’s No Time to Die, Universal’s F9 and Paramounts’ Quiet Place II have also been moved to later dates.
Receipts dropped 45% from last weekend while only one movie, Disney-Pixar’s Onward, made more than $10m over the three-day stretch. The steep decline pushed the year-to-date box office down almost 9%, according to Comscore.
After AMC and Regal, two of the major film theatre chains, and several other circuits like Alamo Drafthouse and Arclight, cut capacity in auditoriums by 50% to avoid crowding in wake of the pandemic, which also contributed to a drop in the domestic revenue.
However, the film release delays mean even if theatres do stay functional, the volume of content available will have dramatically shrunk.
