Take-Two will buy Zynga, in a union of two top game makers.
On television, the pandemic is already over. In reality, it continues to wreak havoc on the entertainment industry.
The Golden Globes, which traditionally kick off the award show season, were not televised on Sunday night because of ethical issues surrounding the group that gives out the awards. The jump in coronavirus cases is also threatening the rest of awards season, which is about more than just self-congratulation.
The undercutting of an effective form of advertising comes at a time when the industry desperately needs it, and it has the movie business reconsidering its fate in a year that was supposed to signal a return of Hollywood’s glamour, Nicole Sperling reports for The New York Times. The Academy Awards remain scheduled for March 27, with nominations on Feb. 8, but there has been no indication what the event will be like.
If the Hollywood hype machine loses steam, it could prove devastating to the box office, which has struggled with each rise in coronavirus cases. The latest Spider-Man movie was a big success, but other big-budget films, like “West Side Story,” flopped. Pixar said last week that its latest film, “Turning Red,” would skip theaters and will debut exclusively on Disney+ in March, free for subscribers.
Movies with midsize budgets are particularly vulnerable, given their reliance on word of mouth and awards to spread awareness. In response, studios are experimenting with slowing theatrical rollouts, accelerating home streaming and holding more virtual screenings to court award voters.
“The movie business is this gigantic rock, and we’re close to seeing that rock crumble,” said Stephen Galloway, the dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. According to a recent study, 49 percent of prepandemic moviegoers are no longer buying tickets. Eight percent say they will never return.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/10/business/stock-market-economy-news