Coronavirus: Hollywood faces disastrous losses with festivals, premieres canceled and Chinese theaters closed

The deadly novel coronavirus, which is burgeoning into a pandemic with every passing day, has had a devastating effect on multiple economic sectors across the world, and with its arrival in the United States, Hollywood is feeling the heat too. Over 500 people in the country have been infected with Covid-19, and the resulting death toll appears to be increasing by the day with 22 being the latest count as of Monday. With the infections climbing at a rapid rate, multiple film festivals have announced cancellations, from SXSW to the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, even the release of a major Bond movie 'No Time To Die' has been delayed by months. 

The upcoming blockbusters scheduled to release soon are Disney and Marvel's 'Black Widow' and Universal's ninth film in the 'Fast and Furious' franchise, 'F9'. Although both are set for release in May, predicting a possible delay would not be a leap. Scheduling films in Hollywood is a complicated process, with studios and distributors engaged in a continual battle to slot their movies on open grounds. However, if the cancelation of movies, premieres, and theaters in China are any precedent, things are going to get worse for Hollywood. 

"It (cancelations/delay) has already started and many feel the precautions are not enough," Anand Bhatt, an actor, composer, and producer in Hollywood told MEA WorldWide (MEAWW). "Although others feel we are overreacting. Comic Con in Chicago went on where celebrities had to take photos and meet thousands of fans, however the Home Show a week later at the location was canceled out of respect for virus precautions. Cancelations are infuriating to Hollywood."

Germany Kent, an American TV personality, host and actress, believes that coronavirus troubles will continue to mount, and will significantly impact the entertainment industry with cancelations and delays projected to cause a major loss at the movies.

The virus will set alerts for "how we do business globally. The fact that the film industry is still shut down in China is a huge sign of the worldwide fallout to come for the entertainment industry," she told MEAWW.  "Of utmost concern are the ramifications of how the studio productions and film releases are being impacted and canceled which will cause a major loss at the movies. We will continue to see more productions postponed and premieres canceled - or movies straight to video - which will impact revenues."

"At present 30% of IMAX revenues come from China and with the movie theaters being shut down their profits have suffered. In this short period of time, the company has seen an estimated $80 million dollar loss," Kent continued. "If the theaters remain closed over a more extended period of time, let's say several more months, that will be a catastrophic loss for IMAX not to mention the hit that Disney has taken from having to close its Chinese parks because of the virus and protests, which has been estimated at a $280 million hit."

Kent added that travel restrictions linked to the precautions being taken to curb the spread of the virus are also affecting the entertainment and travel industry, with an estimated 27% decline in the multi-billion dollar travel economy alone in the state of California. 

"Fewer people are going to be traveling for entertainment-related purposes," she added. The problem is no one knows how long this will last. The only thing we know for sure is if it continues much longer more projects will be put off and the outcome will deliver a hard hit to filming and production likely to have a far-reaching effect around the world. 

Meanwhile, Bhatt believes that with increasing precautions and low viewer turnout, Hollywood will have to strategize to come up with better alternatives and embrace more modern modes of communication to sustain itself.

"Film Festivals where distribution deals are made might suffer," he said. "Hollywood has always been slow to move away from face to face meetings and events - it will be interesting to see how deals still get done now that a virus may force the industry to modernize and embrace e-events/modes of communication."

Coronavirus has taken over 3,400 lives with more than 100,000 people infected worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The virus currently has no known cure.