Hollywood’s biggest night, the 93rd annual Academy Awards, also popularly known as the Oscars, took place on April 25 2021, at Union Station, Los Angeles.
The awards ceremony made history when the shortlist was announced owing to the diverse list of talent nominated this year. From glitz and glamour on the red carpet, to a diverse list of nominees, the 93rd Academy Awards (Oscars 2021), preserved the scale of the event while maintaining social distancing as well as following all safety measures. The Oscars also paid a tribute to fallen heroes of the industry – Chadwick Boseman, Christopher Plummer and Sean Conner to name a few.
Nomadland won best picture as well as well as bagged Chloé Zhao the award for the best director, making her the first Asian and second female director to win in the category. The film also seized awards for best actress.
Seasoned actor Anthony Hopkins won the best actor award for his work as the aging father in The Father, his second Oscar win post the one in 1994 for his role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, while Frances McDormand won best actress for her performance in Nomadland. Meanwhile, Daniel Kaluuya and Yuh-Jung Youn picked up supporting actor and actress honors for their performance in Judas and the Black Messiah and Minari respectively.
Here’s the full list of all the winners:
Actor in a leading role: Anthony Hopkins in The Father
Actor in a supporting role: Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and The Black Messiah
Actress in a leading role: Frances Mcdormand in Nomadland
Actress in a supporting role: Yuh-Jung Youn in Minari
Animated feature film: Soul
Cinematography: Mank
Best Director: Chloé Zhao for Nomadland
Music (original score): Soul
Music (Original song): Fight For You
Best Picture: Nomadland
Visual Effects: Tenet
Documentary (feature): My Octopus Teacher
Documentary (short subject): Colette
International Feature Film: Another Round
Short Film (Animated): If Anything Happens I Love You
Short Film (Live action): Two Distant Strangers
One of the highlights of the award ceremony was the stellar acceptance speech delivered by Frances McDormand upon winning the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Nomadland. She says that she is at a loss for words upon receiving the award and further continues to compare her work to a sword – one that pierces through to the audience. As we witness audiences returning to the cinema and an extensive line-up of movies scheduled for a theatrical release, one may conclude that cinema is back with a bang!
Source: Oscars
While box office returns in 2020 will suffer an estimated 80% global drop due to COVID-19, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is bucking this downward trend, having grown since 2019 to become the Middle East’s top grossing territory this year to date.
Fresh figures released during the recent META Cinema Forum exhibitors’ conference in October reveals that the Kingdom has overtaken the United Arab Emirates this year, and is currently the region’s top-grossing territory, with more than $73 million in theatrical movie ticket sales over the past 40 weeks – a roughly $2 million increase in box office returns compared with the same period in 2019.
The UAE during the same 2020 period has generated roughly $51 million, roughly a quarter of its 2019 box office draw.
Commenting on the growth of the theatrical market in KSA, Cameron Mitchell, CEO of VOX Cinemas says: “We believe that Saudi Arabia is the only cinema market globally to have expanded in 2020.”
Mitchell sees the Saudi market as having increased by roughly 4% year to date – despite the fact that, due to the pandemic, cinemas where closed between March and the middle of June – and is forecasting an 8% growth by year’s end.
The theatrical market in the Middle East in 2019 was worth $600 million, of which Saudi accounted for a $110 million share and the UAE roughly $250 million – which excludes releases of Indian and Arabic films and some indie content. “This year our numbers are telling us that the UAE is going to be worth about $60 million, and Saudi is going to be worth $120 million,” says Mitchell.
In terms of the bigger picture, Mitchell believes that Hollywood will value the Middle East at about $220 million in 2020 out of which KSA will contribute to 50% of the same this year.
David Hancock, an analyst at London-based Omdia says, “The fact that Saudi has now overtaken the UAE, albeit in a weird year, is suddenly a milestone for the Saudi Arabian cinema market.” Hancock expects the country will be a billion-dollar market “in 3 to 5 years,” depending on recovery from COVID-19 which he estimates this year will cause an 80% global box office drop, with losses totaling up to $30 billion. He also mentioned that KSA is on track to become the dominant market in the region “and one of the top 10 or 15 markets in the world.”
An interesting aspect of Saudi Arabia’s current box office upswing is that grosses in the country are currently generated from a mere 260 screens – less than half the 614 screens operating in the UAE. Average occupancy levels in cinemas across the Middle East have not gone beyond 20%, and Saudi is no exception. However, in terms of generating box office, KSA has the cushy advantage boasting of an average ticket priced at $17.60, which is the highest in the region followed by UAE figure which is $12.80, and Kuwait, the region’s third market, priced at $11.90.
Since cinemas re-opened in June, the biggest releases across the Middle East was Tenet, earning $1.1 and $1.5 Million in its opening weekend in UAE and KSA (figures from Box Office Mojo), followed by Mulan – which earned over $1.3 Million in its opening weekend in UAE. Unhinged starring Russel Crowe also performed handsomely in the region, though figures were not made readily available.
Meanwhile, screen growth in Saudi Arabia is going forward undeterred, with VOX presently operating 124 screens across 11 locations. Aside from VOX Cinemas, other cinema exhibitors operating in the Kingdom include Muvi Cinemas and AMC Cinemas who have 10 and 6 operational cinemas respectively, and are in the midst of massive expansion plans over the year ahead.
It’s also interesting to note that a number of new cinema locations opened across KSA, post the COVID-19 lockdown. VOX Cinemas opened three new locations – Sahara Mall, Tabuk Park and Al Jamea (Town Square), Muvi Cinemas massively expanded with the opening of six new locations – Jubail Mall, Al Ahsa Mall, Haifa Mall, Aziz Mall, Nakheel Mall (Riyadh) and Mall of Dhahran, and AMC Cinemas opened four new locations – Hafr Al Batin, Riyadh Gallery, Al Khair and Azizia Plaza.
VOX projects there will be a total of 340 screens in operation in the country by year’s end, and close to 700 by the end of 2021.
Having a market like Saudi Arabia can help Hollywood studios offset some of their losses, says Mitchell, who is worried that due to COVID-19, the supply chain is drying up. To overcome the challenge posed by the lack of new content, VOX is stepping up its offer of alternative content such as live soccer matches, opera and concerts, and also classic re-releases. VOX has also teamed up with local players Image Nation and MBC Group to produce a slate of Arabic films, at least three of which they plan to release in 2021 as part of a plan to release up to 10 Arabic self-produced titles annually.
Mitchell is confident the country will become a top ten global market for cinema, with ResearchAndMarkets.com forecasting the industry in the Kingdom will be worth more than $1.2 billion by the end of 2030.
Sources: Variety, Arabian Business, Arab News
With roughly 80 days to go for Christmas, we at Motivate Val Morgan look ahead to what’s in store on the BIG screen in the month of December, and why brands should plan to include cinema in their festive media campaigns.
From mystery thriller Death on the Nile – based on the 1973 novel by Agatha Christie and Wonder Woman 1984 – the ninth installment in the DC Extended Universe, December 2020 holds festive treats for both cinemagoers and advertisers.
It has been a difficult year for a majority of industries with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its on-going coverage dominating the news.
For cinema, Q2 2020 started off with its closure, followed by a staggered reopening between June and September – with cinemas operating at 30-50% capacity, accompanied by the lack of new content. Then came the release of two highly anticipated blockbusters – Tenet and Mulan, closely following each other, that did rather well on the BIG screen in both UAE and Saudi Arabia:
Following this high note was the official announcement of Death on the Nile, Wonder Woman 1984, No Time to Die and Black Widow pushing its release dates to December 2020, April 2021 and May 2021 (respectively).
The good news for now is that Bollywood blockbuster Laxmmi Bomb – featuring Akshay Kumar, which premiers on 9 November 2020 on Disney Plus Hotstar, will also release across cinemas in Australia, New Zealand and UAE simultaneously, on 9 November 2020. Laxmmi Bomb is anticipated to give cinema another upward push at box office in the UAE.
Laxmmi Bomb Motion Poster Trailer:
For now, December has a treat in store for everyone – cinemagoers and advertisers, with a range of highly anticipated a-list and b-list blockbusters, expected to release on the BIG screen.
The month kicks off with a brand new action comedy adventure featuring Ryan Reynolds – Free Guy, a story about a bank teller who discovers that he’s actually an NPC inside a brutal open world video game, scheduled to release 10 December 2020.
Free Guy Trailer:
Next up is Death on the Nile by 20th Century Studios, scheduled to release on 17th December 2020 . The mystery thriller directed by Kenneth Branagh is based on the 1937 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie, and a follow-up to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, featuring a star studded cast which includes Gal Gadot, Kenneth Branagh, Tome Bateman, Russell Brand and Letitia Wright.
Death on the Nile Trailer:
Just in time for Christmas will be the release of the much anticipated DC blockbuster Wonder Woman 1984 by Warner Bros. – featuring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine and Kristen Wiig. The film was originally announced for release on 13 December 2019, before being moved up to 1 November 2019, then to 5 June 5 2020, followed by 2 October 2020, and now 24 December 2020. Fingers crossed we won’t have to wait any longer than December 2020.
Wonder Woman 1984 Trailer:
Please Note: release dates for the movies listed above are subject to change.
December being the month of festivity, is something we’re sure most are looking forward to. There’s no denying that come December, the pandemic might still be headlining the news. However, cinema has always been known for providing audiences with a space for escapism – a place to immerse themselves in a story, for a couple of hours, watching feel-good content. Given the hardships we have experienced this year, in some way or another, December holds optimism among cinemagoers, given the powerful movie line-up, and presents opportunities for advertisers to target audiences who are keen to flex their spending power during the festive month leading up to the new year.
Stay tuned for the latest updates on movies releasing on the BIG screen over the next couple of months. We’ve also recently launched an attractive ‘guaranteed views’ package. Contact us if interested in starting a discussion on cinema advertising opportunities alongside any of the above mentioned blockbusters in the month of December 2020.
Sources: Box office Mojo, NDTV, IMDb and YouTube
Shot with IMAX Cameras, Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated sci-fi thriller, from Warner Bros., Tenet will release in cinemas across the UAE, KSA and Lebanon on Thursday 27th August (Wednesday 26th August in Egypt).
Towards the end of July, Warner Bros. confirmed that Tenet would release in cinema, towards the end of August, in 70 overseas territories including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United Kingdom.
The studio is still waiting for the go-ahead to debut Tenet in China – the world’s second-largest movie market. When theatres in the country first started to reopen, there were concerns that Tenet wouldn’t be able to screen there as exhibitors were not able to play movies that exceeded two hours in length — and Tenet clocks in at just over 2 hours and 30 minutes. But cinema owners have recently booked Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Inception and other old titles with lengthy runtimes, suggesting that China has eased up or doesn’t plan to enforce the restriction.
Warner Bros. also confirmed that the studio plans to move away from traditional global day-and-date release — a surprising break from tradition since North America is the world’s biggest film market and remains pivotal for major movies to turn a profit. Instead of a global day-and-date release, the studio hopes to innovate and recalibrate given the fact that foreign markets are already starting to reopen safely and is in desperate need for new Hollywood movies to entice audiences.
AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron praised Warner Bros. for sticking to its promise of a theatrical release for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, saying the studio is “doing something heroic.”
Watch the trailer for Tenet below:
Advertisers… here’s your chance to return to the BIG screen in a BIG way, alongside the first summer blockbuster release of 2020. Check out our Tenet offers below:
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Contact a member of our sales team for more information on cinema advertising opportunities alongside this MEGA Blockbuster!
Source: Variety
Attention movie-lovers!
While cinemas in certain countries still remain closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and big movie titles keep shifting global cinematic release dates, there’s still some interesting news from the world of movies which you ought to know.
Here’s a round-up of the big announcements made in July 2020:
20th Century Studios has released a new teaser trailer for the long-delayed The New Mutants.
The New Mutants was produced by 20th Century Fox and writer/director Josh Boone shot the film back in 2017, when it was understood that it would be released as a new Fox Marvel movie akin to Logan or Dark Phoenix. However, the film was consistently delayed and pushed back to the point that when Disney bought Fox, The New Mutants was still unreleased. It’s a ‘holdover’ film that doesn’t have any specific connective tissue to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so fans have been eager to see how Disney would handle it.
The film is currently slated to hit cinemas on August 28 – but Disney/20th Century Studios may continue to hold onto its theatrical release if things don’t improve on the COVID-19 front.
Check out the teaser trailer below:
Read more on this at Collider
Studios continue to move movie premiere dates due to US theatres remaining closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some of the shifts announced in the month of July 2020:
Tenet (August 12, 2020 to TBD, 2020)
Mulan (August 21, 2020 to TBD)
The Broken Hearts Gallery (August 7, 2020 to TBD)
Bill & Ted Face the Music (August 28, 2020 to September 1, 2020)
A Quiet Place 2 (September 4, 2020 to April 23, 2021)
What About Love (September 25, 2020 to February 12, 2021)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (September 11, 2020 to June 4, 2021)
The French Dispatch (October 16, 2020 to TBD)
Top Gun: Maverick (December 23, 2020 to July 2, 2021)
Image Credits: Ng Han Guan-AP-Shutterstock
Movie theatres in China began reopening in July, and Chinese authorities also gave the go-ahead for cinemas in Beijing to reopen. With about 835 cinemas open across the country (about 12% of the total), the Chinese box office has been steadily climbing in July with films such as Sheep Without A Shepherd, Dolittle, and Bloodshot drawing audiences back to cinemas. More big Hollywood titles are to follow including the anniversary re-release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, 1917, and Bad Boys for Life.
This is definitely good news for the cinema industry as China was the fastest growing film market in the world prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Read more on this at Deadline
Warner Bros. has taken Christopher Nolan’s latest espionage thriller Tenet off the release calendar due to the surge COVID-19. The film was set to become the first major studio film back in theatres, however, the studio assured fans that the film is still coming to theatres in 2020.
However, Warner Bros. has mentioned that they will be tossing the traditional global day-and-date release, and working on a non-traditional strategy to maintain its commitment to the theatrical experience around the world by first releasing overseas where cinemas have reopened – Europe, Asia, Middle East and 12% of the total in China, for two thirds of the global box office for a blockbuster such as Tenet typically comes from outside the US.
The studio is giving exact release dates, but sources elsewhere say the studio hopes to begin opening Tenet in international markets in late August before it arrives in the US in the first part of September (even if only in select cities).
Fingers crossed for Tenet – the push we’ve been waiting for to jump-start the cinema industry in times of post COVID-19 recovery.
Read more on this at The Hollywood Reporter
With most countries starting to reopen borders, especially Europe, Tom Cruise is hoping to return to Norway with his crew this fall to continue filming Mission: Impossible 7.
The upcoming sequel is back on track with filming and was recently granted permission to start shooting again after being delayed by the pandemic. Cruise is also continuing his plans to make history with the first narrative feature shot in space, and Universal Pictures is in negotiations to land the new film, which will be shot in cooperation with NASA on the International Space Station.
Read more on this at Deadline
Image Credits: The Playlist
Edgar Wright, the beloved filmmaker behind movies such as Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver, has signed on to develop, executive produce, and direct a ghostly film named Stage 13 – an adaptation of one of novelist/screenwriter Simon Rich‘s recent short stories. Despite the presence of a ghost, Stage 13 won’t be a traditional horror film. The film centres on a young, aspiring director who’s plucked from obscurity and hired to direct a movie on major film studio’s backlot – only to discover that the only reason he was given the chance in the first place is because the sound stage is haunted and the studio head is trying to get rid of the ghost, an aspiring actress who still desperately wants to be a star.
Read more on this at /Film
Image Credits: Paramount Pictures
Paramount’s Grease prequel Summer Lovin’ is revving up its engine, with the studio tapping Brett Haley to direct the film. The new movie tells the story of greaser Danny and good girl Sandy’s summer fling, originally hinted at in the song Summer Nights in the original 1978 movie. Leah McKendrick penned the script with Temple Hill and Picturestart producing.
The film will mark Haley’s first film at a major studio after cutting his teeth on the indie and streaming service circuit.
Read more on this at Deadline
Image Credits: Warner Bros
In a live web panel at the first inaugural Justice Con, Zack Snyder revealed that Zach Snyder’s Justice League (The Snyder’s Cut) will be more than 214 minutes and confirmed none of Joss Whedon’s shots will be in this version.
The director didn’t come empty handed, for he shared a brief unfinished clip, along with a few details about the process of completing his film.
Snyder also said that he was in the process working on restoring the aspect ratio of the film back to the full frame, IMAX cut what he originally intended. He also revealed that he’s been collaborating with composer Junkie XL as they complete the score alongside the film’s additional footage.
Justice Con ran from 25 – 26 July 2020 and was organized by The Nerd Queens (Cole and Nana) and Wonder Meg, Justice Con. The event brought together fans, cast and crew members Snyder’s Justice League, and charitable organizations Ink to the People, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, for a series of live panels dedicated to the release of the Snyder Cut and its charity affiliates.
Read more on this at The Hollywood Reporter
A feature on cinema post-pandemic by Jim Amos, as published on Celluloid Junkie.
It hasn’t been a pleasant two months for the movie industry, as moviegoing has been completely upended, along with the rest of the entertainment sector, by the coronavirus. With rare exception: Tenet, Mulan, Wonder Woman 1984, to name a few, most summer tentpoles have shifted to later in 2020 or early 2021 and there is lingering doubt in what numbers moviegoers will return to cinemas when we start to get the “all clear” sign by governments from around the world.
But here’s the good news. We are starting to see faint signs of hope on the horizon. The fact that studios are keeping their July and August releases on the schedule shows that they believe that moviegoing should be in a relatively fortuitous place by mid-late summer. Many ‘pundits’ who follow the film business are highly skeptical that films such as Tenet or Mulan will make their summer release dates but when you think about it there’s actually good reason for that glimmer of hope.
First, we have a population that has been sequestered in their homes and, gulp, hanging out with their families, for weeks now and are undoubtedly dying to get out to do something. Anything. People may not be ready to congregate with 80,000 of their closest friends at college football games or at stadium rock concerts but they may be more willing to head to movie theaters with 80-100 other people, especially if in-cinema social distancing measures remain in place or there is the available option to attend matinee shows which theoretically should have fewer patrons in attendance.
There is also the issue of ticket prices. Fans of concerts and live theater are undoubtedly going to be leery of dropping $100-200 for an upcoming show if there’s a chance that the virus returns in the fall or winter, as some predict, and events are once again canceled or postponed. It’s one thing to spend $10 for a movie ticket. It’s quite another to plunk down a rent payment for tickets to a concert that may not happen and if today’s cancelation clarification from Ticketmaster is any indication, concertgoers shouldn’t be looking to the ticketing giant for any kind of financial consideration.
‘Meet me at the multiplex.’ “WW84” – “Wonder Woman 1984” (Image Credits – WB)
The other thing to keep in mind is that a large percentage of people who buy tickets to shows and sporting events end up buying them ticket resale outlets at greatly inflated prices. Good luck getting your money back on those.
So yes, the movie industry as a whole, and the cinema industry specifically, are in very difficult straits. Some cinemas – large and small, are debating whether they’ll have the available cash to reopen. Those who do, however, might very well find themselves on the front line as the population starts to “toe dip” into the world of OOHE, or out of home entertainment. And studios are in a unique position where they can pivot quickly and actually move their release schedules forward if patrons start returning to cinemas in greater numbers than expected. Sporting events, concerts, live shows and the like don’t have that flexibility.
In addition, the move of tentpoles back to later in the year should provide independent studios such as Lionsgate, Focus, STX, and others the opportunity to grab summer playtime — albeit somewhat muted playtime — that they might not have enjoyed previously if the rest of the industry takes more of a wait-and-see approach.
Yes, there is a chance that moviegoers return slowly to cinemas but content consumers who are tired of streaming, terrestrial TV and their relatives could be salivating for any new content and their best bet would be a return to movie theaters. That doesn’t just apply to feature films but also to event cinema productions which may provide fans the opportunity to see concerts, filmed performances or events such as The Met opera, which they have been shut out of while they shelter in place, and at a fraction of the price. For fans of the band, Coldplay on screen is better than no Coldplay at all.
Not streaming to a device near you. “Tenet” – Only in Cinemas. (Image Credits – WB)
As well, this might also be the perfect time for studios and cinemas to come together on variable pricing plans. Luring moviegoers back to theaters with two-for-one deals or different levels of pricing for different films could be a welcome tonic for movie fans who might still be hesitant to return to cinemas or have been hard hit financially by COVID-19 yet still need a “night out” that won’t break the bank. Try getting that by buying a ticket to an Ed Sheeran concert or an Arsenal match.
The cinema industry hasn’t been a pretty sight these past several weeks and though we’ve seen articles galore about the plight of cinema chains we seem to have lost sight of the impact that coronavirus has had on individual movie theater workers, those employees who give up their Friday and Saturday nights, all for a poverty-level USD $15 an hour (if they’re lucky). Even if there’s precious little to play, cinemas will want to get their theaters open as quickly as it is safe to do so for several reasons, not the least of which is to rehire their workers in some form or fashion.
The good news is there is a light at the end of the tunnel and the movie industry is in a unique position to hold the lantern. There are still difficult times ahead but at least there is a path of opportunity that most other entertainment sectors simply don’t have.
See you at the movies. Hopefully soon.
Source – Celluloid Junkie (When We Return To “Normal,” the First Stop May Be The Movie Theatre)
