With cinemas set to reopen in the coming months, film fans have an action-packed year ahead. Whilst television and streaming services have saved many from boredom in lockdown, nothing beats the big screen experience.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on cinema: many screens across the globe have been shut for over a year, and in March theatre giant Cineworld recorded a $3bn loss. Cineworld is hoping to regain pre-pandemic levels of admission by 2023 and share prices by 2024, so the reopening of cinemas is a welcome relief to both visitors and investors, and it is arriving not a moment too soon. Summer is traditionally the most exciting and profitable season of the film calendar, and major distributors are lining up to release long-awaited blockbusters. Pre-pandemic, we were seeing a boom at the box office from hits like Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King, and 2019 box office figures broke records with $42.5bn takings globally. Such figures this year would breathe some life into the industry and, hopefully, restore it to its pre-pandemic glory.
But it is not only cinemagoers and the distributors who are keen to see them released, it is big brands too. The brands that have worked with productions through product placement and by investing media dollars to promote their partnerships, are eager to see their products hitting the big screen this summer. The return of major franchises throughout the year, such as Bond, The Matrix, Fast & Furious, Kingsman, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Black Widow), plus the arrival of long-awaited sequels Top Gun: Maverick and Venom, will no doubt be accompanied by promotional tie-ins from companies looking to publicize their product placement. Expect to see big campaigns from the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, Omega, Ray-Ban, Heineken, and Nokia, whose latest commercial in partnership with Bond has the 007 agent Nomi showcasing one of their latest models whilst on a mission.
So, with cinemas starting to fill up their screens and brands promoting the big movie partnerships, it looks like 2021 could hail a revival of cinema.
