Independent movie theaters and live entertainment venues got some help from the United States government in the latest COVID-19 relief package.
According to Deadline, the $900 billion relief package that was agreed to on Sunday includes $15 billion for struggling independent theaters and venues. This comes after months of lobbying by industry trade groups and artists, which also included a proposal for the Save Our Stages Act. While the text of the bill has not yet been released, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed that the aid is included in the final agreement.
The United States House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill on Monday, with the Senate following shortly after that. The bill is expected to pass.
The package also allows opens up the Paycheck Protection Program for a larger number of newspapers, TV stations and radio stations after previously being denied access to the program. However, the bill seemingly does not include relief for larger theater chains or media corporations.
While this may give independent theaters some breathing room, it still leaves AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, IMAX and others in a dire state. With some states keeping theaters closed and public confidence and interest in the theatrical experience low, many theaters are struggling to get by. This, in turn, had forced studios to delay many of the major blockbusters until later in 2021, depriving theaters of product to sell and further hurting their bottom lines. AMC recently said that it may run out of money by January 2021.
Even if things return to normal once the population is vaccinated and public confidence is restored, the theater industry will not be the same. The theatrical window — which previously kept movies exclusively in theaters for several weeks before debuting on streaming and VOD — was smashed by Warner Bros. just a few weeks ago after the media conglomerate announced that its entire 2021 movie slate — including Matrix 4, Dune and The Suicide Squad — would premiere in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day.
Following Warner Bros.'s announcement, stocks for AMC, Imax and Cinemark fell drastically. AMC CEO Adam Aron condemned the HBO Max move, saying, "Clearly, Warner Media intends to sacrifice a considerable portion of the profitability of its movie studio division, and that of its production partners and filmmakers, to subsidize its HBO Max start up."
Source: Deadline