Tag: coronavirus

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When Will Hollywood Start Filming Things Again? The Directors Guild of America Is Trying To Figure That Out

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We all want to know when Hollywood will return to set. Everything has been put on hold. The only cameras still rolling are found inside news stations across the country.

But now that the flattening of the curve is starting to show up in the data, people are beginning to look at the future.

The Directors Guild of America has selected ‘Contagion‘ director Steven Soderbergh to head a committee to explore “resuming production when the coronavirus pandemic abates.”

The president of the DGA, Thomas Schlamme, released the following statement:

A major concern we’re hearing most right now is about when we’ll be returning to work, and how we can be certain that it’s safe to do so. Rest assured, this is something we’ve been spending a great deal of time thinking about as well.

While we don’t have an answer as to when production will resume, we are taking steps to address how we can be safe when it does happen. A national board committee, spearheaded by Steven Soderbergh and with members from all categories, has been appointed to do a thorough examination of the issues at hand and to make recommendations to the board.

In addition to Soderbergh, the committee will be teaming up with top epidemiologists in the field and will work with other Hollywood unions.

So yeah, there is no date right now, but at least they are working towards one. It will likely depend on the size of the shoot. There will probably be temperature checks, lots of gloves, closed sets, etc.

It won’t return to “normal” right away, but at least they will be able to start filming again.

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Dennis Quaid Facing Some Heat After Saying Donald Trump Is Handling This Pandemic Well

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Dennis Quaid has always been a bit conservative, so we’re not exactly sure why people are surprised by his recent comments on Donald Trump.

The 65-year-old actor (who is engaged to.a 26-year-old) talked to The Daily Beast recently, and during the interview, he talked about how Trump is handling this coronavirus pandemic.

I think Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is doing a good job at trying to get these states — and all of the American people — what they need, and also trying to hold our economy together and be prepared for when this is all over. I don’t want to get into petty arguments about it.

But of course, the internet is all about petty arguments. He has been getting dragged online, especially on Twitter.

I mean, he had to know this was coming. He probably did it to get more attention on his podcast. Now he’ll have all the Trump supporters on his side, listening to his podcast and funding his wedding. If he hadn’t mentioned Trump, no one would have even known about his podcast.

By the way, Trump *might* (BIG MIGHT) be handling the pandemic better right now, but it’s a little too late. He fumbled the ball early on and tried to downplay the virus. He keeps touting his China travel ban, but there were so many other things he could have been doing.

Instead, he spent his time going on Fox News to tell everyone that the virus would be gone completely in a week or so. He ignored the experts until they became impossible to ignore. I don’t think we should congratulate him for that.

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Another One Bites The Dust, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Has Its Release Date Pushed Back

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You’ve waited over 30 years for a ‘Top Gun’ sequel, so what’s another few months?

It was announced this week that ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ will be pulling out of its June 24th release date. Instead, it will now be released on December 23, 2020.

As part of the release shake-up, Paramount has also moved ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ — which the studio postponed last month — to Sept. 4, 2020

Several other films have pushed back their release date to the fall/winter, which is going to cause a traffic jam at the theaters. I mean, how are we going to watch all these films? And who is going to have the money?

I feel like a lot of these studios are being optimistic. I mean, what if a second wave comes in the winter and they have to shut down temporarily again? It’s a very confusing moment right now for everyone.

I do miss the movies. I know that much. It was basically the only thing I did before all this. But at the same time, I’m not going to risk getting coronavirus just so I can see Tom Cruise pretend to fly a plane.

But hopefully we won’t have to make that decision. Hopefully the world is in a much better place come December.

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Jesse Eisenberg Reveals He’s Social Distancing Inside An RV With His Family

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Jesse Eisenberg knows a thing or two about surviving challenging times. Or at least his character in ‘Zombieland‘ does.

Thankfully there are no zombies (yet) with this coronavirus pandemic, but should they come, Eisenberg is ready.

He talked with Conan this week via a livestream from his RV, which is currently traveling across the country. He’s driving from Los Angeles to Indiana with his family.

I was, like, in Los Angeles for work and then this happened and we were trying to get back to Indiana, where we live, and we rented an RV so we can isolate but also get back home.

We’re trying to get back to Indiana help out at my mother-in-law’s domestic violence shelter, who are losing their volunteers because their volunteers are college students.

Conan joked about Eisenberg’s terrible wifi connection, “I think it makes for compelling television…It does look like I’m talking to an astronaut in 1962.”

So how is the RV life for Eisenberg? Well, it’s a bit sketchy, especially the bathroom situation…

So, this is a car and a house, so, like, a million things can go wrong. And if you’ve ever had a car or a house, they often do. This is both.

And there’s…actually one thing wrong in this entire thing, which is the valve for the human waste is the one thing that’s not functioning well.

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Welp, China Orders All Cinemas To Close Once Again

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We told you on Monday that there was light at the end of the tunnel in China. Over 500 cinemas in China reopened last week, and while that only represented 4.5% of the country’s theater real estate, it was still a sign of hope.

In fact, many believed even more theaters across China would open in April.

But unfortunately, that looks less likely now that the government is ordering all cinemas to close once again.

The country’s national film bureau has contacted all exhibitors today saying that venues must be closed again, with no immediate timeframe for re-opening. The news has begun to spread across popular social media service Weibo.

And while community spread of the coronavirus has nearly went to zero in China, they are still experiencing imported cases (53 reported on Thursday) and they are fearful that could cause another spike.

As you can imagine, China is being very cautious with this. They were hit hard, with over 80,000 cases reported, but likely there were many more. They are doing everything they can to prevent another outbreak.

Their troubles started in late December/early January, and they are still largely shutdown. Our troubles here in the US started in late February/early March, so it makes you wonder how long we’ll be shutdown for.

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Idris Elba Is Still In Quarantine After Testing Positive For Coronavirus

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As you probably heard last week, Idris Elba tested positive for coronavirus. He made a video to let his fans know and to spread the message of social distancing and staying home.

At the time, Elba had very minor symptoms. He had a headache at one point and some fatigue, but nothing serious at all.

And thankfully one week later, it’s still the same. He posted an update on Twitter and admitted he hopes to return to London soon…

That immunity/antibody test could be huge for the future. If we’re able to see who is immune, then those people can go back to work, take care of people, etc. I know there are several countries working on a test, so hopefully it will be available soon.

And hopefully immunity lasts a significant amount of time. Typically, with coronaviruses (for example, the common cold) immunity lasts 6-12 months. But some doctors believe it’ll be longer with this strain, maybe up to two years, as was the case with SARS back in 2002-2003.

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AMC Furloughs CEO And Over 600 Employees Due To Coronavirus Shutdown

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We knew this coronavirus pandemic was going to hit theaters hard, but I don’t know if we expected it to happen so quickly.

It was announced today that AMC Theatres has furloughed more than 600 corporate employees, including CEO Adam Aron.

Last week, AMC announced its 634 locations in the U.S. and Canada, and more than 1,000 venues worldwide would indefinitely shutter because of the global health crisis. That caused more than 26,000 theater employees to be furloughed or let go. The closures left AMC with no source of revenue, while still having to pay pricey fixed overhead costs.

The good news for these corporate employees is that they will still receive healthcare benefits, and their job will be waiting for them when this whole thing is over with. The lowly employees working inside the theaters don’t have that same assurance.

On Tuesday, AMC disclosed that it had borrowed $304 million from two pre-existing credit facilities on March 20, in response to the coronavirus crisis. The company said it was aiming to ‘increase its cash position and preserve financial flexibility’ in light of the outbreak. The borrowing exhausted the available amount under the credit facilities.

When this shutdown began, theater chains were hoping the lockdown would only last a month or two, but now it’s looking like it could be 3-4 months, depending on where you are located.

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Cannes Film Festival Has Been Postponed, Could Start As Early As Late June

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We knew this was coming. The Cannes Film Festival has officially been postponed. The organizers of the event made the difficult decision on Thursday evening.

The festival was originally set to take place between May 12 and May 23.

Several options are now being considered, including postponing the event until the end of June through to the beginning of July.

Obviously they’re being a bit optimistic. Best case scenario, yeah, they might be able to start the festival in July, but that’s best case.

It’s more likely it’ll be pushed back until August or September, or heck, they may even have to miss a year. Everything is uncertain at this point. I think in 2-3 weeks, we’ll have a better understanding on where we stand.

In the meantime, all we can do is speculate. I suppose there are more important things to worry about than film festivals. People are dying, losing their jobs, etc.

BUT HEY, THIS IS A MOVIE SITE!

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Movie Fans On Twitter Demand Release Of The Rumored “Butthole Cut” Of ‘Cats’

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Before the coronavirus, there was Cats. The bizarre film adaptation of the hit musical was released in late 2019 and its momentum carried over to 2020.

The movie ended up being so terrible that it was kinda…entertaining? People were having special viewings of the film. It was a movement of sorts.

And just as it was about to fade away, someone on Twitter claimed to know of a “butthole” cut of the film.

A VFX producer friend of a friend was hired in November to finish some of the 400 effects shots in @catsmovie. His entire job was to remove CGI buttholes that had been inserted a few months before. Which means that, somewhere out there, there exists a butthole cut of Cats,’

The tweet went viral and now people are demanding to see this glorious butthole cut of the film. I mean, the world is ending, why not give us one final gift?

If you’d like to contribute to the madness, keep spreading the “#ReleaseTheButtholeCut” on Twitter.

The studio has not confirmed that this butthole cut exists, but we have to believe it does. We need this more than ever right now.

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Cinemark Movie Chain Finally Shuts Down, Now Joins AMC And Regal

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With nearly every big release being pushed back and strict isolation rules in several cities, movie theaters were taking a hit.

A massive hit. The box office last weekend was abysmal, and this coming weekend will only be worse, thanks to major theater chains shutting down for the foreseeable future.

AMC, Regal and Alamo Drafthouse had already closed down, due to the coronavirus, but Cinemark was the holdout. They were trying their best to remain open, but it was announced on Tuesday that they were also shutting down.

Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi released the following statement…

Through these absolutely unprecedented and evolving times, one thing will not change, and that is Cinemark’s dedication to its team members and moviegoers.

The decision to close our U.S. theatres was incredibly tough, but we know it is the right thing to do as global Coronavirus concerns continue to escalate. We will closely monitor recommendations of national and local governmental health organizations and look forward to inviting everyone to once again enjoy experiencing the movies with Cinemark.

So yeah, no movies for a while. I’m thinking it’ll be at least June before they open back up, but we’ll see what happens. It might be dependent on the city you’re in.