The productions had two well-marked faces this year: those seen in movie theaters and others on streaming platforms.
Films gradually returned to theaters after some premieres on the platforms of streaming. Of course, moviegoers are not returning to theaters as before, only certain segments of the audience are close to levels before the pandemic, hence the oldest audience and families are the ones that have been slow to return. This has diminished the already slim opportunities for less commercial films. Long before the pandemic, mega-productions of superheroes (DC and Marvel) and other genres had a growing piece of the pie. But currently they ate it entirely.
Film consultancy Franchise Entertainment estimates that while superhero movies are close to 75% of pre-pandemic levels, genres aimed at adults are between 66 and 75 percentage points of their normal levels and movies for the whole family are less than 50. That can naturally be attributed to COVID-19 concerns. Older ticket buyers are more likely to be wary of the virus, with vaccinations just beginning for children under 12 and the third dose.
In current times, the experience in the cinema has been divided into two increasingly marked fronts: big-budget blockbuster films (blockbusters) and signature boutique films.
The trend was already there when blockbusters They had a larger share of the box office. Like other things that were happening, COVID-19 accelerated some of those trends. It is more than clear that when people decide to go to a movie, they look for something else because they got used to seeing all kinds of things at home.
Hollywood productions have been cautious because the services of streaming they reached more homes and broke schemes. Walt Disney was cautious and made a few moves. They were clear when their executives said they were being “very careful” and were looking at how different demographics return to movies.
Younger and often male audiences have driven the highest grossing films. Examples of this are Venom: There will be Carnage, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Free Guy: Taking over, Dune Y Eternals, which have spearheaded a renaissance in theaters. None of those films had results like they could have before COVID-19, but their decline does not compare to the poor results of films such as The last duel, de Ridley Scott, o The mystery of Soho, de Edgar Wright. Spencer (Netflix), by Chilean director Pablo Larraín, premiered with a gross of only $ 2.1 million.
The 25th film in a nearly 60-year-old franchise James Bond: no time to die it had the impetus of a younger audience. “If you look at the movies that have performed well, generally in the past few months, they have been the ones that have won over younger audiences,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Senior Media Analyst at Comscore. “I believe that The French Chronicle Y Dune they show that perhaps over time, and with the right movies, more mature moviegoers are saying ‘ok, I’m going to take the risk.’
The Morgan Stanley company, in an optimistic survey about the future of the industry, recently predicted that some casual viewers (accounting for almost half of the box office) have not returned to the movies, and that they will ultimately only reach 60% of the levels. prepandemic. Other mega-productions that were seen in movie theaters and in streaming son Cruella, Spider-Man: no way home, James Bond: no time to die, Shang-Chi, Godzilla vs Kong, Black Widow, House Gucci, Raya and the Last Dragon, Suicide Squad 2, West Side Story, Charm, Annette, Minari Y Nomadland.
With the premiere of the new version of West Side Story, Hollywood will begin to deploy its Christmas artillery, which includes other deliveries of Matrix y Spider-Man, in addition to Nightmare Alley, by Guillermo del Toro when we have the information.
In Ecuador
Definitely Enchufetv It is the Ecuadorian production that has had the most international projection in the digital field. This year they turned ten and their 25 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 50 million followers on social networks endorse the success of this channel of sketches which was born as a project created by a group of film students. Christian Moya, Jorge Ulloa, Martín Domínguez and Leonardo Robalino are the architects of these sketches that have been broadcast on various television channels such as Comedy Central and others from Latin America. In addition, they have two original series, two specials, and two movies. And they just confirmed that they will be on the pay TV channel TNT.
Film production in Ecuador has not yet emerged, not even before the pandemic. It paralyzed almost everything, but in the midst of this health chaos there was a filmmaker who said no to the virus: Iván Mora Manzano with Yellow glassess (2020) and its documentary The beach of the enchaquirados (2021). The story of tolerance, freedom and respect that the trans community breathes in Engabao was co-written with Isabel Carrasco and in co-production with Brazil. The documentary was shown for the first time at the Cinequest Festival (Silicon Valley, California), at the Cannes Festival it debuted at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, at the international feature film competition at IDFA, Amsterdam, among others.
One can also mention the filmmaker José M. Avilés, who tried his luck with To the east, a film based on a fiction that was presented in the Biennale College category at the Venice Film Festival; and to director Alfredo León, who released his second film, Submersible, simultaneously, in theaters (multiplexes) and in streaming, through the Touché Premiere platform.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
