Upcoming trends of global cinema in 2020

With the coronavirus outbreak grappling its grip tightly, the film industry’s productions have been taking a stride downwards, forcing production houses to mass layoffs and cost cuts in the past 2-3 months. Amidst the global restriction of gathering and movements, many big production houses like Warner Bros, Disney, Universal have made announcements of their big releases to later dates of 2020 and 2021. Current situations have pushed the trends of premium videos on demand to a new relevance, with several production houses skipping the theatrical release entirely to streaming platform releases. Disney’s Frozen II, Paramount’s The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma, are few such movies that had dull theatrical openings in the March end and had a decent audience when released as premium videos on demand. However, the practice has initiated a wave of debates among many in the film industry, with the majority favoring the continual of conventional windowing practices. The article here presents you with a retrospective journey of the movie practices that made it ticking through 2019 and might be the trend going forward.

Film industry trends that are sure to stay

Pandemic or not, streaming platforms are sure to trend

Past decades would not have ever imagined the possibilities of watching new movies in the coziness of home sans cost and noise of a multiplex. The foray of Netflix and Hulu has established the possibilities to a broader extent, with many filmmakers bypassing the theatrical releases for a streaming release already. The impact of the pandemic has made streaming platforms’ presence even more prominent and a life-saving option for the producers.

Netflix’s deals with the stalwarts of the film industry like Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Noah Baumbach, and Steven Soderbergh is the indicator of the shifting trends. Besides, some of the major releases in the streaming platforms, 2020 is about to witness some of the highly expected Netflix releases such as The Prom (a musical comedy by Ryan Murphy), Rebecca (a British thriller by Ben Wheatly), Spenser Confidential (Peter Berg’s adaptation of Wonderland, was released on March 6th) and The Old Guard (Directed by Gina Prince –Bythewood and a Charlize Theron starrer).

With Disney and Apple also joining the rate race of streaming platforms with Netflix and Amazon, the acquisitions regarding major movie deals are anticipated this year as well. The competition was already stiff before the start of the pandemic, with excellent movies such as The Platform and Sound of metal premiering on OTTs last year. Hence, the impact of streaming platforms is sure to exist in the coming years, with the virus spread emphasizing its prevalence even more.

Can remakes and sequels still rule the reels?

With the tanking of Tom Hooper’s Cats last year and the meek openings of Men in Black and Terminator, the very notion of a successful remake and sequels would need a serious revisit. Though the makers still blame the poor show of Cats to poor conceptualization issues, the success of feature films like Bong Jo’s Parasite and Rian Johnson’s Knives Out are eye-openers. The success of these films is an indicator of the changing perception of viewers and the growth of an audience that is willing to accept movies of substance. However, expensive sequels such as The King’s Man, Top Gun: Maverick and Disney’s Jungle Cruise, and the Mulan remake that are slated to have a release this year are highly anticipated and might justify the belief of guaranteed money makers. 

Are Superheroes the real money-spinners of the film industry?

With pandemic halting most of the shooting schedules, the leading production houses are struggling with the crisis of managing release schedules and the massive jobless crew. However, with the authorities stepping in, hope is still alive for the film industries.2020 and 2021 is scheduled to produce and release some blockbuster superhero fantasy movies such as Cate Shortland’s Black Widow, and Cloe Zhao’s The Eternal. Despite a dismal start of Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey in February this year, the sharp critics’ reviews had raised the hopes for other superheroes movies as well.

Acceptance of more global movies

The film industry worldwide is witnessing a wave of recognition for foreign films and actors. The recent success of Parasite is proof of a broader audience for world movies. Canadian producers and actors are also foraying into various adaptations and making a mark with their abilities. Amazon’s “A league of their own” and Marvel’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings have a tremendous Canadian presence.

Controversies also have their fair share

Controversies and the film industry are indispensable combinations. While the controversies do make an unfavorable promotion, films might receive their fair share of exposure through this. Universal canceling the release of the thriller “The Hunt” and the story about Trump’s cameo being left out of the CBC broadcast of Home Alone2 had kept 2019 quite busy and expecting 2020 also to have its fair share too.

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