Category Archives: Coming Soon

Film distribution explores new windows

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The coronavirus pandemic has upended film exhibition practices, closing cinemas, delaying some releases and elevating other films to notoriety.

Case in point — Killer Raccoons 2: Dark Christmas in the Dark:

“Travis Irvine, the movie’s writer, director and producer, said that in the week it was ranked 13th, “Killer Raccoons 2” was the only comedy on the list — making it the No. 1 comedy film in the U.S. (“with many asterisks next to that,” he said).”

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Ryan Faughnder quotes Bob Berney, of distribution firm Picturehouse:

“I do think that the pandemic has unleashed all options. It’s become a testing zone of every possible way of getting a film out there, and it’s going to take while before it gets set into some sort of pattern.”

This weekend we shall see which strategy wins: in one corner we have Mulan‘s paradigm-shifting Premium VOD and in the other we have Tenet‘s old school theatrical distribution. Tenet released internationally one week before its US debut, earning $53,000,000. With 60 million subscribers and a $29.99 ticket, Disney+ needs at least 2 million of its subscribers to pony up the extra cash to catch up to Tenet.

My take: If one strategy wins by a landslide, will the film industry follow en masse and forever change how movies are distributed?

To go to the cinema, or not

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Adam Barnhardt reports on comicbook.com that: Doctor Strange Director Tells Fans Not to Go See Tenet or Any Other Movie in Theaters.

This after Cineplex opened all 1,687 screens across Canada:

“Cineplex, one of Canada’s leading entertainment and media companies, will be the first of the major film exhibitors in the world to reopen its entire circuit of theatres when its remaining theatres open Friday, August 21, 2020. From coast-to-coast, all 164 Cineplex theatres and 1,687 screens across Canada will be open as of tomorrow, including the Company’s 22 VIP Cinemas locations.”

Nevertheless Jessica Leonora Whitehead opines in The Globe and Mail that “today, thanks to the quality of TV programming and the rise of streaming services, the industry cannot assume that customers will simply come back.”

My take: I love watching movies in cinemas! But perhaps not right now.

As cases top 5 million, Walmart opens free drive-ins

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Well-known for allowing free overnight RV parking in its parking lots, Walmart is now converting 160 of those parking lots into free drive-in theatres.

“This pop-up event is touring the country and visiting 160 Walmart Supercenter locations. Gates open at 6:00pm and the film begins at 7:30pm. Tickets are free, but must be requested in advance.”

The films to be shown from August 5 through October 21, 2020 are:

  • Black Panther
  • Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
  • Wonder Woman
  • Friday Night Lights
  • Spy Kids
  • Space Jam
  • Ghostbusters
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
  • The Wizard of Oz

My take: It appears that people are dying for a night out, as ALL of the dates are SOLD OUT! I say “sold out” but remember all the spots are free. I wonder how many of these screenings will be shut down by local authorities if they exceed the maximum number of congregants for group gatherings.

Disney scientists perfect deep fakes

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We propose an algorithm for “fully automatic neural face swapping in images and videos.”

So begins a startling revelation by Disney Researchers Jacek Naruniec, Leonhard Helminger, Christopher Schroers and Romann M. Weber in a paper delivered virtually at The 31st Eurographics Symposium on Rendering in London recently.

Here’s the abstract:

“In this paper, we propose an algorithm for fully automatic neural face swapping in images and videos. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first method capable of rendering photo-realistic and temporally coherent results at megapixel resolution. To this end, we introduce a progressively trained multi-way (comb network) and a light- and contrast-preserving blending method. We also show that while progressive training enables generation of high-resolution images, extending the architecture and training data beyond two people allows us to achieve higher fidelity in generated expressions. When compositing the generated expression onto the target face, we show how to adapt the blending strategy to preserve contrast and low-frequency lighting. Finally, we incorporate a refinement strategy into the face landmark stabilization algorithm to achieve temporal stability, which is crucial for working with high-resolution videos. We conduct an extensive ablation study to show the influence of our design choices on the quality of the swap and compare our work with popular state-of-the-art methods.”

Got that?

My advice: just watch the video and be prepared to be wowed.

My take: Deep fakes were concerning enough. However, this technology actually has production value. I envision a (very near) future where “substitute actors” (sub-actors?) are the ones who give the performances on set and then this Disney technology replaces their faces the those of the “stars” they represent. In fact, if I was an agent, I’d be looking for those subactors now so I could package the pair. A star who didn’t want to mingle with potentially COVID-19 carriers could send their doubles to any number of projects at the same time. All that would be left is to do a high resolution 3D scan and some ADR work. Of course — Jimmy Fallon already perfected this technique five years ago:

Streaming TV: quantity versus quality

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Maria Santos, writing on UpNext, asks which streaming service currently has the most original series to offer its subscribers?

The clear winner is Amazon Prime Video, with over 2,200 TV series available. Netflix is second with over 1,900. Note that about 35% of Netflix’s TV series are originals.

However, when counting high-quality (average rating of 8.0 or higher on IMDb) TV series, Netflix pulls away with over 330 shows.

My take: That’s a lot of TV to watch!

Idris Elba champions diversity and inclusion

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As noted by Rhian Daly on NME, Idris Elba has championed the importance of independent film to diversity in an essay in The Sunday Times.

Idris writes, liberally edited:

“Film isn’t elitist. We all express ourselves through the stories we tell, what we watch and the communities we create. One person’s film culture is watching Spider-Man at the Rio, another’s is going to a Kurosawa season at the BFI or catching the new Christopher Nolan movie at an Imax. But it’s those smaller independent and community cinemas that have been hardest hit by the lockdown… Film isn’t just entertainment. We’re looking at each other, watching what other people do and encouraging greater honesty about each other’s cultures. It’s the age of mass storytelling in which a video recorded on a phone can bring together families separated by lockdown — or inspire a powerful global movement… A nation finally acknowledging its diversity needs a diverse film culture — we have to protect it at the time we need it most… We may need the money mainstream cinema from America brings in, but to create future stars and introduce new voices, independent film is where it’s at. I wouldn’t be here without it.”

Rhian also quotes Sandra Oh as claiming UK TV is not diverse:

“The UK, I’m not afraid to say, is behind. I am not only the only Asian person on set, but the development of people behind the camera is very slow in the UK.”

My take: yes, independent film is indispensable to diversity, mainly because no one can stop you from making your film with your particular point of view. Inclusion, on the other hand, still has lots of gatekeepers, those thwarting your message from getting out and keeping you out of their club. I think the fact that we’re discussing the problem shows we’re firmly on the path to change it.

The film industry as usual, not

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Richard Janes makes the case that we should Prepare For The Death & Rebirth of Hollywood.

His thesis is threefold: power will pass from agents to producers, theatre screens will be bought by streamers and production will embrace 8-hour days in new centres.

I’m not going to be able to do his history lesson and argument justice but the gist is:

“…why do producers now get passed the mantle of power? Content demand. Today there is so much content needed to be made that it’s becoming harder and harder for TV networks and studio development teams to have such a hands-on approach to developing projects. Netflix is going through a massive commissioning spree as traditional broadcasters and studios pull their content from the Netflix catalogue to launch their own services. …[hence] a new (or old) breed of Hollywood producer comes into play. Producers who can find content, fully develop it quickly, and earn the trust of financiers who simply look at the budget and a new rich data set behind cast, genre, and other key talent that validates potential audience numbers (data that has only really been available for the last 5 years), and send them off to make the project, delivering it with a big fat bow ready for consumption.”

As to exhibition:

“…movie theaters are going to turn into entertainment centers with big money pumped into them, creating premium experiences in a way that the current owners never could. Amazon will buy AMC or one of the big three. They’ll do special screening deals for Prime members. They’ll program content based on the viewing data of Amazon Prime members around each of their theaters and they’ll market directly to audiences on their own platform to create hype before bigger roll outs both in theaters and via streaming.”

In order to return to film production in these COVID times, safety will be paramount:

“The hours can be brutal. That’s got to change. No sleep equals lower immune systems, tired crew means opening yourself up to basic health and safety mistakes that could allow a virus to run rife. The alternative is longer shooting schedules, 8 hour days, 5 day weeks — the French model.”

He also predicts a crew shortage and lots of ‘runaway’ production.

Richard concludes:

“The death and rebirth of Hollywood is upon us. There are opportunities in every sector of the industry. There really is no greater time — wherever you live in the world — to be in film and television. BUT it’s time to innovate and hustle.”

My take: this is a long and fascinating read, one I highly recommend. Some might think Richard Janes doesn’t know what he’s talking about but his experience in Hollywood guides his prognostications. He’s the first in a long time that I think have it bang on.

New Lionsgate production safety guidelines leaked

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The Wrap has reported that draft Lionsgate production safety guidelines have been leaked.

Lionsgate has said the draft has seen numerous revisions since. It promotes four main steps to success: distance, sanitation, enforcement and change, and also specifies:

  • Maintain a distance of six feet at all times
  • Use VR scouting of locations
  • Workers should undergo complete quarantine (as paid hold days) for two weeks prior to shooting and two weeks after the shoot
  • Restrict shooting to 10-hour days
  • Permit no non-essential personnel on set or in production offices
  • Cast and crew should receive health and body temperature checks when entering sets or offices
  • No crew member should be near cast unless they are part of the makeup, hair, sound or wardrobe departments and are wearing masks and gloves
  • Divide lunch breaks into two times
  • On-set meals should be ordered and packaged individually
  • Talent should consider personalized drivers
  • Use CG extras.

Read the new safety guidelines at Scribd.

My take: film production, like all businesses, needs to find the tricky balance between profit and people. No one wants to infect, and potentially kill, someone, but most people are obliged to work to pay their bills, and corporations want to provide their services to society. I just wish we had a Universal Basic Income so only those folks that truly want to work would have to, and perhaps at reduced hours. A ten-hour shooting day sounds ideal!

Theatrical windows to close?

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Last month’s lockdown may have forever challenged the sacrosanct theatrical film exhibition 90-day window.

The film that led the charge? Trolls: World Tour!

Scott Mendelson writes in Forbes that Universal is reporting that Trolls: World Tour has earned around $100 million in the first three weeks of domestic “premium VOD” or PVOD (which costs $20 for 48 hours.)

After further analysis, he concludes:

“I think that the coronavirus-related closures and unease will hasten an inevitable process whereby movie theaters become the place where only the biggest would-be mega-budget blockbusters (or genre-specific tentpole releases) play on the big screen while almost everything else goes to VOD, DVD and/or streaming.”

Indie Wire quotes the WSJ that Universal Studios CEO Jeff Shell says: “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”

In protest, the AP reports that AMC (the world’s largest theatre chain) counters:

“Going forward, AMC will not license any Universal movies in any of our 1,000 theatres globally on these terms. Accordingly, we want to be absolutely clear, so that there is no ambiguity of any kind. AMC believes that with this proposed action to go to the home and theatres simultaneously, Universal is breaking the business model and dealings between our two companies.”

Stay tuned.

My take: in the current environment, this is inevitable. How else can the audience see new movies? However, as things relax, will the traditional window prevail? The studios may be quite content to continue releasing on PVOD, especially if a sizable chunk of viewers prefer to stay in the comfort of their homes and avoid sticky theatres. If the DOJ rescinds the Paramount Consent Degrees, I wonder how long it will be before theatre chains either buy studios or go into production for themselves?

Drive-ins still showing movies

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Apparently, you have to go South, way down South, to see a movie outside your home right now.

Beth Webb wonders in Huck if in the age of lockdown, are drive-in cinemas the future?

“With social distancing measures enforced across the world, the film industry has taken a huge hit. But against the odds, a handful of independent drive-ins across the US have adapted to stay alive. Is this the start of a comeback?”

She quotes one drive-in owner:

“Dad and I believe that we have succeeded with our old theatre because basically we treat it as a service and a way to give back rather than as a job or business. And that’s the way we plan on continuing.”

Here are five drive-ins I could find that are still open:

Texas

Alabama

Georgia

South Carolina

Road trip, anyone?

My take: the drive-in is uniquely positioned to offer an entertainment service, being the intersection of wide-open space and automobile culture. It had its heyday in the fifties and sixties but could very well become relevant once again in The Great Pause.