The global outbreak of COVID-19 has affected thousands of lives, with 105,586 total cases as Sunday night, according to the World Health Organization. The outbreak has even sent shockwaves throughout the economic world as stocks are dropping.

One field taking a huge hit from the coronavirus is the film industry. The United States film market is dependent on the global box office — particularly that of China. Couple that with the ramifications of the outbreak continuing into the summer, and the COVID-19 outbreak could leave massive ramifications on the theatrical box office worldwide.

China’s box office has made $238 million during January and February, according to reports from Variety. That same two-month span yielded $2.148 billion last year and $2.378 billion in 2018.

Last year, China had set a record for ticket sales, but with the coronavirus outbreak, the same numbers do not seem likely. China has done a great job selling its own original films; “The Wandering Earth” and “Ne Zha” are just two of China’s recent massive hits. Its market has become a haven for U.S. big budget films as well.

Comic book films — especially Marvel Films — have crushed it at the Chinese box office over the past few years, with “Avengers: Endgame” grossing $614 million dollars in China alone, per Box Office Mojo. Several films, including “The Fast and the Furious” franchise and 2018’s “Venom,” have become massive hits due to China’s market.

Take 2017’s “The Fate of the Furious.” That film made just over $1 billion outside of the U.S. and nearly 40% of that ($392 million dollars) came from China, again according to Box Office Mojo.

Now, that massive market is gone for the time being, and massive studio entries are on notice. Disney’s “Onward” opened with a lackluster $28 million opening overseas, and it may not have the help from China that most animated films make. Paramount is lucky that “Sonic the Hedgehog” is racing past expectations so far, because the film still does not have a Chinese release date.

One of the biggest chips to fall due to the coronavirus is “No Time to Die,” the next entry in the James Bond franchise. MGM and Universal decided to push back the film’s release date from April to November after “careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace,” according to a Tweet from the film’s official account.

Granted, the studio did not specifically mention the coronavirus in the film’s release date being pushed back. Also, as Forbes’ Scott Mendelson mentioned, most other James Bond films came out in November to great success. The company’s evaluation of the “global theatrical marketplace” cannot be done without analyzing the previously mentioned numbers about the Chinese box office.

China is not the only country shutting down theaters. AMC closed nearly half of its theaters in Italy due to the outbreak. If the current shutdowns continue into the summer, several other films may move back their release dates to ensure that their films earn a profit.

Not only has the coronavirus caused theaters to shut down, it has also led to the halting of the production of the seventh “Mission: Impossible,” after scenes in Venice were set to be filmed over the course of three weeks. If the outbreak continues to loom, other films could see their productions stopped abroad.

The domestic film market is also taking a hit. This weekend, the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival was shut down by the city of Austin. The festival has become a major hub for films, as “Bridesmaids,” “Ex Machina” and “Furious 7” are just three critical and box office hits to debut at the festival over the past decade. This year, Netflix, Apple and Amazon were set to debut features. Once again, if this outbreak continues to grow, more major events could be put on hold.

Of course, the question is whether or not the virus will continue to lock down China until the summer — or force more countries to be shut down. However, given the general hysteria surrounding the disease, the film industry may be facing a major dark year until the coronavirus is finally contained.

Published on March 9, 2020 at 9:32 pm

Contact Patrick: pagunn@syr.edu