Why Omicron Won’t Affect Theater Attendance
By Movieguide® Contributor
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing unwarranted panic, but the box office may still be safe.
Though some people are still worried about potential infections, Variety just published a piece stating why this won’t affect movie ticket sales.
First, despite all odds, the 2021 box office has flourished, with many movies setting records for ticket sales and high-earning opening weekends. Even though plenty of people are still staying home, there are still plenty of others who are willing and excited to go to the movies.
Another reason profits are likely to remain stable is the fact that, even amid political divides about the disease and vaccinations, ticket sales in all states remain high. Even though theaters in cities like New York and Los Angeles opened back up much later than Atlanta and Dallas, people in all areas are still continuing to go to the movies.
Lastly – and maybe most importantly – 2022 will see more films showing exclusively in theaters. This is a change from the past two years, which saw many studios releasing movies exclusively to streaming services or in tandem with smaller theatrical releases.
Warner Bros. has already said that, Omicron or no Omicron, they are sticking to their set theatrical slate, keeping the movies exclusive to cinemas. Disney, who started releasing their movies exclusively to theaters in the back half of 2021, are expected to continue exclusive theatrical releases as well.
While many were worried about how theater chains like AMC and Regal would fare, a MOVIEGUIDE article published earlier this year stated: “Another positive sign is that AMC, the world’s largest cinema chain, revealed that they could avoid restructuring due to the significant losses suffered in 2020. Other major chains, such as Cinemark, also claim that they are stable financially, so long as the market returns this summer.”
The biggest factor, though, in movie ticket sales, has nothing to do with pandemic variants. Rather, if studios want to bring people back to the theaters, they must ensure that their movies appeal to family and faith audiences. The more biblical content a movie contains, the more money it will make at the box office compared to movies with gratuitous content.
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