Front Burner - ‘Tenet’ postponement spells trouble for Hollywood blockbusters

Episode Date: July 24, 2020

Film buffs were still holding out hope that Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated movie “Tenet” could salvage what is left of the summer movie season. But when it was indefinitely postponed this week, it raised questions about how the pandemic will shape the future of Hollywood blockbusters. Today, CBC Entertainment reporter Eli Glasner breaks down how COVID-19 is changing the industry, and what he misses most about going to the movies.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Josh Bloch. He told me you killed him. No. I am your father. You know we're living through strange times when Empire Strikes Back is topping the box office charts. But this is a pandemic,

which means a decades-old movie can hit number one because there basically isn't anything else to watch in theaters. No! No! COVID-19 has totally upended the film industry, shuttering cinemas, halting production, and pushing back release dates for Hollywood blockbusters. So today I'm talking with CBC Entertainment reporter Eli Glasner

about how the pandemic is reshaping Hollywood and what going to the movies could look like in the future. This is FrontBurner. Hello, Eli. Hey, how are you? I'm good. The big news this week is that the release of Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated movie, Tenet... All I have for you is a word. Tenet.

It'll open the right doors. Some of the wrong ones, too. Use it carefully. Which, I saw the trailer, it looks so good, has now been indefinitely postponed. And I think for a lot of people that is really devastating. How big of a blow is that to fans and to the film industry? Well, I mean, certainly for fans, we're kind of like hanging on this. It's been a while since we've had a really good action spectacular, the kind

of thing you would sit down and happily munch your popcorn over from the director of Dark Knight and Dunkirk. Why so serious? But, you know, even beyond my own personal fandom and a lot of people who enjoy Nolan's work, this was really seen as the last linchpin of the summer season and I think what really makes it critical is that the movie chains themselves were kind of building their plans on when to reopen around the fact that Tenet would be in theaters because this is the kind of film with a big cast, with interesting stunts and effects that could actually, I think they hoped,

bring people back to the theater. So what a great way to reopen the business. And the plan was to open in the middle or the end of July, get people used to seeing movies again, get those new cleaning procedures in place, and then you have that big opening in August, and now, you know, this time inversion adventure film is stuck in limbo. It's TBA. They're still waiting to announce that new date, which they say could be 2020. But a lot of people I talk to think that's awfully optimistic. And, you know, it's interesting, Josh, like you see now, like already in the United States, AMC and Regal have announced that their reopening dates are getting pushed further back.

announced that their reopening dates are getting pushed further back. And I think a big reason was Tenet. Without that, to kind of build the reopening of your schedule around, you know, what's going to bring people back into the theater? I've seen other Hollywood films have opted for an online release, like the Tom Hanks film Greyhound was released on Apple TV. Here they come. What are we going to do?

We'll bring hell down from on high. Why don't they just release Tenet on demand? For a couple of reasons. I mean, one is just the sheer size of the budget and how much money they need to make to break even. This is a film that reportedly has a budget over $200 million. Those kind of special-sized blockbusters, those super-sized blockbusters, the only way the math really makes sense is for that movie to open in thousands and thousands of screens around the world those movie theaters get packed it's the kind of film especially with nolan that people will come back to see again and again as they puzzle over the particulars of the plot

and so yeah i mean you saw something like greyhound go to Apple TV+, but they didn't have a budget anywhere close to Tenet. And so when you have something of that size, of that ilk, really the only option for them is to open internationally on the most massive scale possible. That is how those blockbusters are created. Well, so you mentioned that these movies need thousands and thousands of theaters to be open. Obviously, that's not the case right now. But there are some theaters open in Canada. What are they screening?

They're playing older films. You can watch Bloodshot. You can watch Trolls World Tour. You can watch Invisible Man. There's a lot of like greatest hits. I mean, The Empire Strikes Back. Jaws is doing quite well. You're going to need a bigger boat. Jurassic Park is out there. And so they're really trying to bring people back with cheaper ticket prices

and kind of the greatest hits. So just, hey, it's the movies. You love that. Why don't you come back and remember what that's like? But what they don't have really is a lot of new product. I mean, I have to say, like, it seems really scary, the idea of taking your kids to the movie right now. You know, for me, it appears to be the worst environment for COVID transmission. It's exactly the kind of place that public health officials are warning you not to go into where you're in a closed room with other people for a sustained amount of time. What is it like to watch a movie in a theater right now? I mean,

are people like wearing masks? Are they in hazmat suits? Like what's happening? None of the major chains are requiring patrons to wear masks. It's certainly an option. You will see reduced offering at the concession stand. You will see employees behind plexiglass. When you go by your ticket you will generally be doing that online and that's how they enforce that kind of physical distancing because you can only buy kind of pairs of tickets and those seats that you prepay for are far apart from other seats in the theater. Sometimes they even have empty rows between customers to try and you know cut down on what we're all doing breathing and laughing and

enjoying that film as we're sitting like you said in that box for you know two hours or more. And I actually interviewed an epidemiologist. And what she said to me is, it's not as risky as being in a living room with someone, but it's not as good as being outside. I still am a bit nervous because it's, you know, shared airspace with people, with air conditioning, with, you know, a fairly long contact time. I wonder if comedies are more risky, you know, people laughing kind of, you know. Yeah, I mean. More airborne virus.

The epidemiologist I spoke with, I mean, she suggested basically wearing a mask as much as possible. You know, for me, I go to a movie, I have my coffee, I have my treats. Am I going to be removing that mask as I shovel in some popcorn and then putting the mask back on? Am I going to be trying to contain my laughter because I'm worried about spreading droplets? I mean, it's a whole new experience. That's not the kind of relaxing escapism

I go to the movies for. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income. That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples,

I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. So it's not just movie theaters that are being hurt by the pandemic. Movie productions as well. I mean, they are terrible environments for social distancing. And yet we are still seeing that there are some films in production. How are they doing it? There's a couple ways of doing it. For the smaller films, if you can put your entire production kind of in a bubble,

test the people, the cast and crew, and if you can put your entire production kind of in a bubble, test the people, the cast and crew, and then you can say, okay, everybody here is safe. And we're now going to try and kind of patrol this. I've even heard of productions having kind of a COVID-19 safety officer, almost like the virus lifeguard that takes a look at the set, make sure that everything is safe and on the up and up. In terms of like the bigger productions, I mean, what you're seeing right now is production moving to places that it's safe, New Zealand, Iceland, those kind of regions. I believe they are still working on the Avatar films, believe it or not. There are new Avatar sequels coming and they're being shot in New Zealand.

And so they're able to continue. But those are still a little while away. And so there is going to be kind of that that gap when we run out of new stuff. And those those new movies haven't been completed yet. But there's a lot of really interesting strategies in order to make productions safe in the age of the coronavirus. So you're going to be seeing a lot more CGI or maybe you won't be seeing it, but it will be there. You know, the crowd shot might be artificial. They may even shoot an actor separately. You're standing by yourself on a set and then the leading woman comes in and she stands by herself on the set and then you put those together with computer

animation so a lot of VFX firms have actually been speaking to right now that is a big thing they're now offering film and television productions you know we can solve those problems for you we can add that crowd we can fill in the the background you don't have to worry about hiring a hundred extras. We will just make them with bits and bytes. We've been focusing more on Hollywood films right now, but Canada also obviously has a lucrative TV and movie production industry. I saw that a film crew in BC's Okanagan region saying that they've actually been busier than ever as they adapt to this new world.

How are things faring in Canada? I think it depends. It depends if you're in a region where you can go back to work safely. I know certainly a lot of the safety regulations that adds a cost anywhere between 5 to ten percent of your budget. But there is, you know, as you said, like a great appetite for content. Like you talk about a production in B.C., if it's a smaller production, it's easier to contain, you know, where you're

going to be able to shoot safely the next Avengers film. That's a tough one to crack. And that major announcement from the Academy, the Oscars are being delayed two months to late April 2021. Hollywood's biggest night is being rescheduled for the first time in 40 years due to the coronavirus. Chris Connolly.

I'm curious to know what all this means for the film festivals and the award ceremonies that are really coming up around the corner. How are they adapting to this disruption of the industry? Well, they're still trying. They're still working it out. I mean, you look at the Toronto International Film Festival. I mean, they're talking about having a combination

of some actual physical live events and then a lot of virtual moments. I mean, the magic of cinema, one of the things I love is how in a theater, everything is amplified. And as a sometimes critic, like that's one thing I pay attention to. How did they react? It's bigger than just me. Things get bigger and scarier when you see that up on the screen, you know, three stories high and luminous, and it's impossible to replicate that at home. And even, you know, there's a new war film called The Outpost that is just open. It's a very intense film set in Afghanistan.

It's a very intense film set in Afghanistan. All I can do is wonder what that would be like to see with an audience because I watched it on my bed at home. Same thing with the Tom Hanks war film Greyhound. And I think that is why so many of those bigger films beyond just the budget, your, you know, the Fast and Furious number nine, the next James Bond film, a lot of those have been pushed to next year entirely, because they not only do they want to be able to recoup that money, they want the audience to have that kind of experience the way they were meant to be seen. But, you know, the interesting thing, Josh, is, you know, one woman

I was talking to was talking to Anne Thompson, she's the editor at large at IndieWire. And she was saying that the consequence of what's happening right now, like this is really hurting the movie chains. Right. And she's predicting that you're going to see the actual number of theaters contract just because they won't be able to weather the storm because of everything that's happening. won't be able to weather the storm because of everything that's happening. And that then leads to the question of, well, does your James Bond blockbuster, does your Tenet, does your Avengers still make sense in a world where there are actually now less movie theaters existing? Slowly but surely what's happening is that these big theater chains that have been acquiring many, many theaters across time and across the world. And what happens in this situation is that they keep taking on more debt

in order to stay in business and taking on more and more expenses. So they're going to be shedding the weaker theaters over time. And we're going to end up at a long distance from now, we're going to end up with the strongest surviving, and there are going to be fewer theaters around the world, which really brings up the question of how many more $200 million movies can the studios afford to make? My heart breaks also for the independent theaters. And I know there's one around the corner from

where I live that was just refurbished and is a beautiful space and just opened before the pandemic. And I'm sure those kinds of places are really going to struggle to survive if people aren't able to go to theaters or aren't willing to go to theaters for that long. Yeah, they really are hurting, especially if you only have one or two screens. A lot of them have been doing kind of virtual screenings.

You know, it was a tough business even before, but it was really the smarts and the chutzpah of the programmers that found a way to make connections with their communities. But if you can't get people in to watch that single screen, I mean, you know, the rent checks keep coming. So it really is a bit of a struggle. We were talking about the theaters, obviously the studios and the actors, but these film productions employ an unbelievable number of people. I mean, think of the caterers and the drivers and the crew. There must be a lot of people hurting when productions are put on hold or really downsized, when the industry is downsized

to this extent. Oh, for sure. And the longer this goes on, you are going to find people leaving those industries. They can't wait forever. You know, I mean, think of something where close contact is a necessity, like your makeup artists, right? I mean, how much longer, and many of them are freelance and they go from contract to contract. And if they're not coming back, then they're going to have to start to look elsewhere. You have, you know, an entire, you know, generation of laborers, the craft people, the set designers. And I think what is so frustrating is that it's kind of a week by week thing. Oh, we're going to open up next week. Oh,

no, hold on. Oh, it's looking good. And hold on. And you've got a lot of, you know, the unions and the councils, they're looking at the health regulations, they've got plans to try and figure out how to proceed and what is your workforce going to look like. It is quite dire for a lot of those industries. You know, let's just fast forward for a moment to 2021. We're seeing studios, you know, delaying the release of films till next year. And I'm curious, to what extent are they just kicking the problem down the road? Because what if we don't have a vaccine or a treatment by then? And, you know, I'm thinking about an interview we did yesterday about this, you know, this exact reality that coming up with a vaccine may take a long time.

Just, you know, not only finding the right vaccine, but making sure enough people get it. If we don't have that by next year, what is the movie industry going to look like? Well, as I mentioned, for one thing, I think there will be less movie theaters. And then that, in effect, basically could force the studios to think very hard about what kind of movies they want to make. It's interesting. There's a sequel, believe it or not, coming out to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure called Bill and Ted Face the Music. Bill and Ted, what have you got to say for yourselves? Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes. It was supposed to open in the end of August, and now it is opening September 1st, but both in theaters and on demand. That's really interesting because until now, you couldn't do that without risking the ire of the movie theaters, right? They do not want you to collapse their theatrical window.

They want you only to be able to see those big budget films in the movie theaters and then have to wait about 90 days in order to rent or stream it. But now the studio behind Bill and Ted's is doing both. And I think in this current reality, they're not so worried about, you know, having some movie chains upset at them. They're just looking at how do they make back what they spent on that production. Eli, you're a movie lover. You spend, in normal times, I imagine, a lot of time in the movie theaters. I mean, for you personally, what do you feel like you lose by not being able to have that cinematic experience? I'm second guessing what I think of the films now. Because the best experience I can have

is just at home, on the couch, maybe with my family. You know, it used to be my focus group was the people I watched the movie with. And for me, the best way is, you know, opening night, packed movie theater. People cheer when the, you know, the logo comes up on screen, we ooh and we ah, and, you know, there are moments from movies I can remember how I felt when those things happened,

and that's because my experience was amplified by everybody around me, and now it's more of a one-to-one thing, and that's fine. And there's some amazing pieces of art and I can still enjoy. But I do really miss that human element of what it's like to be in the dark with a group of strangers and going through that experience together. Eli, thank you so much for speaking with me today.

My pleasure. Before we say goodbye, some news about the ongoing WE Charity story. Opposition MPs are calling for Finance Minister Bill Morneau to resign after he admitted this week that he had just reimbursed the WE organization over $41,000 related to two trips his family took in 2017. Next week, the founders of WE charity, Craig and Mark Kilberger, will testify before the Finance Committee. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Chief of Staff Katie Telford are set to testify as well. The date for that has not been determined. We will bring you more on that story next week.

All right, that's all for this week. And lucky for us today, I have an assistant in my studio closet at home. All right, are you going to help me with the credits? Go for it. Front Burger is brought to you from Cbc news and tvc podcast the show is produced this week by imogen birchard sarah jackson ali james derrick vanderwyck mandy sham does our sound design with help from Mac Cameron. Music is by Joseph Jefferson. A boombox sound.

The executive producer of Front Burner this week was... Shannon Higgins. Shannon? Shannon Higgins. Okay. Shannon Higgins. I'm Josh Blochch And I'm Anais Can I say it?

Sure Thanks for listening Back on Monday Good job How do we turn this off? For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.