Kevin Feige on the alleged collapse of cinemas. What does the future hold for Hollywood?
In recent years, the film industry has been in crisis due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In the spring of 2020, cinemas were closed and film studios had to stop work on productions. This led to numerous delays, stoppages and changes in business models. Currently, the market is recovering, but the last three years have been a “painful” time for the industry.
Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios and the main producer of the MCU movies, shared his thoughts on the alleged “downfall” of theaters on The Movie Business Podcast. He told about a discussion he had on Zoom around 2020 with a group of people related to the industry. During the conversation, he directly asked a person whose name he did not give if the film industry would disappear. She replied that no, but it would take three years to improve. Feige then stated that it was terrible because he wanted it to last six months. He admitted that this wise person was right. In addition, she compared the cinematic experience to sports:
This person also said, “Look, everyone can watch all the American football games they want. But every week, hundreds of thousands, millions of people still go to stadiums in the cold and rain. So many people come, park, spend too much money on beer and hot dog because this shared experience is essential to humanity.”
This person also added that if he sees empty stadiums, then he will start worrying about the cinema. But that will never happen because people need to share this experience. Feige also revealed what the future holds for Hollywood:
My prognosis for the future is very positive, a lot will change and there will be many inconveniences, but people will still go to the cinema, cry, cheer and laugh together. And we’re seeing it after this festive season, and hopefully we’ll see how it continues to build and develop over the next year.
Confirmation of the thoughts of the president of Marvel Studios can be found in the box office results. Avatar: Water Creature grossed over $2 billion worldwide. Even in Poland, it breaks records of popularity – James Cameron’s film has already been watched by over 3 million Poles. Moreover Top Gun: Maverick grossed $1.48 billion a Jurassic World: Dominion – 1 billion. These figures show that people are still willing to go to the cinemas, although they are mainly high-profile blockbusters.
