Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Wipe Out All of Summer Blockbuster Season?

Say goodbye to blockbuster season — at least for this year.After would-be summer hits from Disney, Warner Bros., and Universal already vacated their release dates, Sony Pictures announced Monday that its comic book adventure “Morbius,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and virtually all of its upcoming tentpoles were being moved into the fall or beyond.

It was an acknowledgment that the coronavirus pandemic is not expected to vanish anytime soon — a grim reality that likely means that movie theaters will remain closed for the near future.“When Sony pulled the plug on their films, that signaled the end of any hope of a summer movie season,” said Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations.

“If magically a vaccine comes out in June, then maybe that won’t be the case, but I don’t really expect that to happen.”Historically, summer movie season has been the most profitable stretch for the film business.

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