What’s left of the 2020 theatrical landscape

Going to the movies may not be a good idea right now, but discussing the status of the few big movies left on the year’s roster is worth noting at least. Keep in mind this list can and probably will change by the time you finish reading this post.

New York, LA and San Francisco theaters remain closed, with no indication as to when they might re-open, but an estimated 70% of American theaters are currently up and running. Assuming they make it to the end of the year, 2021 will be jam-packed with movies—but first they have to hold on a few more months in a climate where The Virus has not abated yet and audiences remain trepidatious about going to the movies.

Tenet hasn’t been the savior everyone had hoped for. According to Box Office Mojo, so far it has made $41 million domestically (but $243 million internationally), which would be outstanding for most movies, but Tenet had much higher aspirations. So what’s left this year?

Black Widow, the Candyman remake, The King’s Man and Spielberg’s West Side Story moved to next year. A horror movie, The Empty Man, will bow the 23rd of this month.

No Time to Die, the new James Bond movie, continues to hold firm to its November 20 date, as does Soul, the new Pixar animated film; lots of folks thought it would also go to Disney+. It still might do that; who knows? [UPDATE: It did.] [UPDATE: No Time to Die has been pushed back to April 2021.]

Free Guy, the Ryan Reynolds movie that looks like a live-action Wreck-It Ralph, is set for December 11, while Kenneth Branagh’s new Hercule Poirot movie, Death on the Nile, will go a week later, the same week as the Dune remake (UPDATE: Dune moved to October 2021) and the much-delayed Wonder Woman 1984 is now set for a Christmas Day release.

And as for 2021? So far it looks sort of like this, but of course this too could change.

If you decide you must go to the movies (and if you can), I don’t have to remind you to be smart about it: mask up, check your local theater in advance to make sure it’s taking all the necessary precautions, make sure you’re socially distancing yourself from others in the theater and at least think twice about that bucket of popcorn. And no matter where you go, be it to the movies, work, school or dinner: stay home if you’re sick, especially now that we’re heading into colder weather. We’re not out of the woods yet.

After the jump: an important announcement.

I’ve kept WSW going these past few months in part to keep busy during the quarantine, but lately I’ve found other things to occupy my time: rewriting the novel, critiquing manuscripts, writing short stories and articles (I submitted a piece for this year’s Dark Pages special), not to mention spending time with Virginia again. And I may even return to the gym, now that I can.

The point is, I wanna cut back on the blog. I’m not ending it; I’ll still be here. I’ll do monthly roundups of new Netflix releases on the first of every month beginning in November, and I’ll stick my head up if any huge movie-related news breaks, plus there’ll be blogathon posts as the mood strikes me, but no more theme months. They were fun to do, and they gave me the excuse to write about lots of movies and shows I might not have if this had been a normal year, but for now at least, it’s time to move on from that.

So come back here the 15th for the first of two blogathon posts. Thanks for sticking with me. Stay safe and stay healthy.