Movie theaters eye summer box office rebound
21 May 2021
The biggest test for moviegoer appetite since the pandemic is coming — and it's make-or-break for theaters trying to salvage their annihilated businesses.
Why it matters: The world is reopening and restrictions are rolling back. But the pandemic ushered in a new era for how studios release films that could stick around.
The summer box office kicks off with "A Quiet Place Part II" — out next Friday.
- Yes, but: It'll be on streaming platform Paramount+ just 45 days later, half as much time as the typical exclusive theater release.
Catch up quick: Big films are landing on streaming services as they debut in theaters, or shortly thereafter. It's delivered a massive blow to theaters trying to lure back moviegoers who can just watch from their couches.
- "What happens this summer will help studios decide how they're going to act later in the year, and especially around the holidays," Wedbush's Alicia Reese tells Axios.
What they're saying: "It's always frustrating when you don't have control over your product," Shelli Taylor, CEO of movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse, said on today's episode of the Axios Re:Cap podcast.
- "The situation for theaters ... is that we don't have control."
Of note: Alamo Drafthouse filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
- Helped by the new obsession with AMC's stock (thanks to r/WallStreetBets), the theater chain has enough cash "to see them through to the return of attendance," says Reese.
Signs of life: The April box office hit $190 million, up 300% since February, the New York Times reports.
- In the same month in 2019, the box office brought in $1 billion.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.