Ben Affleck Predicts The Future Of Movies After The Pandemic

Actor Ben Affleck has shared his thoughts on how he believes the movie industry will change on the other side of the pandemic. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar-winner said he believes there will be far fewer movies that come to cinemas, with studios instead opting to release their movies on video streaming sites. The movies that will come to cinemas will be the bankable films like superhero movies and sequels to established franchises, he said.

"If I had to guess, in 2006 there were 300 movies released theatrically, and--excluding qualifying theatrical runs and stuff like that--there'll probably be 40 movies a year that come out [going forward], mostly action, effects, tentpole sequels and superhero, that kind of movie that you can really count on," Affleck said.

The actor remarked that the movie business was already in a state of change before the pandemic. He observed that dramas were "largely going away theatrically," due in part to the high quality of content available on streaming services, among other factors.

In these pandemic times, studios are conditioning viewers to expect new releases to be available at home, Affleck said.

"Now people have been taught that they can just watch at home and that's fine, so I think it'll be very hard to get those kinds of movies back in theaters," he said.

One of the biggest movie studios, Warner Bros., will release all of its 2021 films both in theaters and on HBO Max. The company's 2021 releases include Dune, The Matrix 4, Mortal Kombat, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Tom & Jerry, The Suicide Squad, The Many Saints of Newark, and In The Heights.

Gary Oldman, another Oscar-winning actor, is also quoted in the piece, and he said he "enjoy[s] the streaming services like everyone else," but he also believes the traditional movie-going experience is special. He said he was recently in London and saw that his Netflix movie, Mank, was playing in a theater. So he went to see it and, although there were only about 11 people in the room, Oldman said, "There was something to be said for being in this big space in a dark room watching this thing 40 feet across."

"It played faster. I think the gags worked better," he said of watching Mank in a cinema versus at home. "And certainly, the guy behind me was having a good time. So there's advantages and disadvantages."

John David Washington, the star of Christopher Nolan's Tenet, said in the piece that he appreciated how Warner Bros. honored Nolan's wishes to have Tenet screen in theaters. Washington said he had a fear that the movie would only be released for streaming and he would be denied the opportunity to enjoy what it feels like to star in a big tentpole release from Nolan similar to his epic Batman blockbusters that were huge box office draws.

You can read the full interview at The Hollywood Reporter.