Back at the start of 2021 things were not looking optimistic. The pandemic was still at its height and we were about to enter another lockdown. Things have gotten much better since then but we are now currently in the midst of the omicron variant ravaging the world. So will things be the same this year? Are cinema’s going to survive this year? The optimist in me wants to believe things will get better and in fact cinemas are performing stronger than ever at the moment thanks to a little film called Spider-Man: No Way Home. So it is not all doom and gloom.
Last year we saw a backlog of delayed films finally hit the big screen, and in some cases the small screen too. The line between theatrical films and streaming films is slowly decreasing with shortened theatrical film windows in cinemas and more studios developing their own streaming service’s too, ahem, service their new films. Warner Bros. has their streaming service HBO Max where they’re creating a big superhero blockbuster film for this year exclusively for the service with Batgirl. Paramount+ will be heading from the States to us here in the UK soon and will bring some exclusive films too such as Rumble, and Apple TV+ has a new animation division launching this year with Skydance Animation releasing new films Luck and Spellbound exclusively to the streaming service.
The focus on streaming is quite balanced with cinematic releases though as Warner Bros. has the highly anticipated film The Batman coming to cinemas in a few months' time and Paramount Pictures will be releasing the latest Top Gun and Mission: Impossible films exclusively in cinema’s. Disney is also attempting to release half their films this year on Disney+ with films such as Peter Pan and Wendy and also Pinocchio coming to their streaming platform, while their bigger films such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and their upcoming animated feature film Strange World releasing in cinemas. The point here is that this balance between streaming and cinematic releases is now, more or less, the new normal.
Here at Eyesight Productions, we don’t have the resources yet to release films on a bigger screen, and luckily we have our YouTube page to distribute our amateur short films. What is there to expect this year from us though? There is nothing in the works currently, but there is a project that will be pursued this year and more information on this project will be given at a later date. I will be putting my effort and energy into streamlining Eyesight Productions this year though, meaning a more efficient website and with more accessible resources in reaching out to us.
It’s not a lot to go on but we only just entered January and at least you have an idea of what to expect from us this year, and what to expect with the film industry too. All being well, after the winter months pass and the omicron variant becomes more under control, the global box office will return to the large numbers that we saw pre-pandemic. As mentioned before, if Spider-Man: No Way Home proves that people are still willing to go to cinema’s then there is still life yet in the film industry!
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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