Today, AMC Theaters became the first major theater chain in the US to announce that they will be reducing capacity in auditoriums by 50% starting tomorrow. Those measures are set to be in place until April 30th, 2020. With fewer films now in the marketplace, this isn’t expected to have an overly detrimental affect on ticket sales. 

However, with Scarlet Johansson set to return as Marvel’s sultry superspy in Black Widow for preview screenings on the 30th, it’s possible Disney will start to contemplate postponing the film.

In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

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Productions are being halted left, right, and centre at the moment, but Warner Bros. appears to be holding off on that for the time being. Just like how they’re sticking to that June 5th release date for Wonder Woman 1984, Variety’s Justin Kroll now reports that shooting on The Batman, The Matrix 4, and King Richard is going to continue as normal. 

He adds that The Suicide Squad is already in post-production, so that’s likely to be unaffected; Black Adam isn’t set to start shooting until August, while work on Aquaman 2 stars in 2021.

Proving that Warner Bros. is adamant that “the show must go on” for now, the next Fantastic Beasts movie is going to start filming (as expected) this coming Monday. Whether things will change over the weekend is hard to say, but the theatrical arm of the studio is clearly handling this quite a bit differently to the television one based on what we heard a little earlier today. 

Kroll adds that, “[The] situation is obviously fluid and could change but WB is not planning on shutting down productions based on Disney decision.” 

The Coronavirus has been declared a “National Emergency” in the United States by President Donald Trump today, and further travel bans are expected in the coming days. That alone could cause issues for a production like The Batman, but Warner Bros. understandably doesn’t want to have to delay any of its 2021 releases. 

How are you guys feeling about the way things are playing out in Hollywood right now? 

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President Donald Trump has just declared the Coronavirus a “national emergency,” and the impact on the entertainment industry is still being felt in a major way. Earlier today, we learned that Disney has hit the pause button on everything from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to The Little Mermaid, while work on all of their TV pilots has been halted. 

Now, The New York Times’ John Koblin is reporting that, “Netflix is halting production on all scripted TV series and films in the US and Canada for at least two weeks, two people briefed on the plans tell me. This will affect dozens of shows/movies.” Among them is Stranger Things 4. 

As for Warner Bros. TV, they’ve announced today that they are “halting production on some of our 70+ series and pilots currently filming or about to begin.” While there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on any of their productions, “the health and safety of our employees, casts and crews remains our top priority.” A full list of shows affected by this has not been revealed. 

However, thanks to Deadline and TV Line, we know that Batwoman, Lucifer, and Supergirl are among them. Earlier today, it was reported that The Flash‘s production has been put on hold.

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Bloodshot arrived in theaters last night, and it managed to earn a respectable $1.2 million during Thursday previews. With people reluctant to go out and many others forced to self-quarantine, this is probably better than Sony Pictures expected, but its opening weekend isn’t looking too great.

Currently, industry estimates are pointing to an $8 million – $10 million opening.

That’s just shy of Vin Diesel’s 2015 movie The Last Witch Hunter (which earned $10.8 million after a $525,000 Thursday night), and there’s no denying this pandemic is having a negative impact of box office takings. However, if the reviews for Bloodshot are any indication, moviegoers probably would have ended up avoiding it this weekend regardless. 

As we right this, the movie has 34% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 88 reviews. According to the Critics Consensus, “Bloodshot gives Vin Diesel a solid opportunity to indulge in old-school action that should satisfy fans, even if the end result is disappointingly mediocre.” 

Interestingly, it has an Audience Score of 80% based on 122 verified ratings, so it’s possible that fans are enjoying Bloodshot a little more than the critics (which has become a regular occurrence). 

With every major April release now postponed, Bloodshot could very well end up being the highest grossing film to come our way for quite some time, which is definitely a rather strange thought. 

Will you be braving the theater this weekend to watch Bloodshot?

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This was probably inevitable after last night’s Shang-Chi announcement, but Disney has now paused production and pre-production on all of its currently and soon-to-begin shooting live-action projects.

These include: Home Alone, The Last Duel, Nightmare Alley and The Little Mermaid remake. Peter Pan & Wendy and Shrunk, which were in the pre-production phase, have also been shut-down.

“While there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on our productions, after considering the current environment and the best interests of our cast and crew, we have made the decision to pause production on some of our live-action films for a short time,” Disney said in a statement. “We will continue to assess the situation and restart as soon as feasible.”

Rob Marshall’s live action take on the ’80s animated classic was set to commence filming next week in London. The delay is not expected to be substantial, but there’s been no timeframe given for cameras to begin rolling again on Mermaid or any of the above projects.

Will other major studios soon follow suit? Well, Deadline‘s report mentions that Sony Pictures is not expected to announce any delays, but it may just be a matter of time. Could Warner Bros.’ The Batman be next? Let’s hope not.

In related news, THR reports that multiple cinema chains across Europe (for now, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Greece) have closed their doors.

We’ll keep you guys updated.

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This Sunday’s episode of Supergirl will shift the focus to Dreamer (Nicole Maines), who will take center stage after her roommate (Roxy Wood) falls victim to a vicious hate crime by a man that wants Nia to give up being a superhero just because she’s transgender.

While she and Kara (Melissa Benoist) deal with that, Alex (Chyler Leigh), J’onn (David Harewood) and Kelly (Azie Tesfai) team-up to rescue a man stuck inside a virtual reality escape room, which proves to be a lot easier said than done. 

“Reality Bytes” – (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, LV) (HDTV)

DREAMER STEPS UP TO PROTECT HER COMMUNITY AFTER HER ROOMMATE IS VICIOUSLY ATTACKED – Nia’s (Nicole Maines) roommate, Yvette (guest star Roxy Wood), is attacked by a man targeting Dreamer because he doesn’t like that Dreamer is transgender and wants her to quit being a superhero. Determined to protect her community from additional harm, Dreamer refuses to give into his threats and puts herself in the line of fire to stop him. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) stands by Dreamer and enlists additional help from Brainy (Jesse Rath). Meanwhile, Alex (Chyler Leigh), J’onn (David Harewood) and Kelly (Azie Tesfai) attempt to rescue a man stuck inside a virtual reality escape room. Armen V. Kevorkian directed the episode written by Dana Horgan & Jay Faerber (#515). Original airdate 3/15/2020.

Season four showed that truth, justice and the American way are stronger than fear and hate, as Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) stopped Lex Luthor’s anti-alien campaign with the power of the press, no cape required. As the world returns to normal, some things will never be the same now that Lena (Kate McGrath) knows Kara’s secret and the Monitor has arrived on Earth 38! Watch, like Leviathan, as new dynamics and relationships unfold for Supergirl and her friends and colleagues as their adventures continue in season five!

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