A Number Of Films Have Been Postponed Due To The COVID-19 Outbreak

James Bond (Twitter @007)

JAKARTA - The outbreak of the corona virus, known as COVID-19, has an impact on the world of cinema. Several films have been postponed their official broadcast in order to avoid the bad effects of this virus. One of them is No Time To Die. The new James Bond series has been pushed back from April 2 to November 25 worldwide.

The postponement of the broadcast schedule for No Time To Die was made in order to continue the box office title for James Bond films. The four previous 007 films; Specter, Skyfall, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace made up a total of $ 3.2 trillion.

MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020. pic.twitter.com/ a9h1RP5OKd

- James Bond (@ 007) March 4, 2020

As the country with the most industrial income sources, China determines the number of viewers of films that will be screened in Asia. Apart from suspending No Time To Die, they also postponed the screening of the live action version of Mulan, one of the films predicted to win the box office title. There are also Dolittle, 1917, Jojo Rabbit, Sonic the Hedgedog, Onward, and Bloodshot.

Apart from international films, in Wuhan itself - which is said to be the source city of the outbreak of COVID-19 - the delay in showing films is a major blow to the film industry. Local Chinese films that have been delayed include Detective Chinatown 3, Lost in Russia, Bonnie Bears: The Wild Life, and Leap.

Meanwhile in South Korea, there are quite a lot of local films that get revenue below expectations. South Korea is one of the countries with the most cases of corona. As of March 5, the country's COVID-19 cases reached 6,088 cases with a total of 41 deaths, while 88 others have recovered completely. CGV, the largest cinema network in South Korea, chose to close several cinema branches to avoid this virus outbreak.

There are two films from Korea that have to be postponed, namely Time To Hunt - originally scheduled to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on February 20-March 1 - and the animated film The Stolen Princess. Even so, not all films in South Korea suffer losses. One of them is The Man Standing Next which still counts at the box office with revenue of 37.3 million US dollars

In Malaysia, the screening of several films has also been delayed due to the corona virus. Films such as Vanguard, Detective Chinatown 3, Jiang Zi Ya: Legend of Deification, and The Rescue were postponed indefinitely. Vanguard was even postponed for two months from the previous schedule, January 25.

The film industry in European states such as Italy must also feel the impact of this corona virus. With 3,858 cases making Italy the country with the most corona cases in the Blue Continent. This made travel prohibited for Italians and the screening of a number of films had to be rescheduled. Call it, Onward and The Grudge.