电影档期一延再延 好莱坞开始放弃2020年

《花木兰》、《信条》……多部大片的档期被一延再延，许多电影的上映日期都已经推迟到2021年。在严峻的疫情面前，好莱坞各电影公司在今年秋冬的上映计划也都一一成了泡影。

Still from film A Quiet Place: Part II. Source: Paramount Pictures

The coronavirus pandemic erased the entire 2020 summer movie season. For a while, Hollywood held out hope it’d still be able to release its biggest movies in theaters this fall and winter. But now studios are finally realizing that probably can’t happen either.

新冠疫情已经让2020年的整个电影暑期档化为泡影。曾有一段时间，好莱坞寄希望于今年秋冬在影院上映大片，但现在电影公司终于意识到这也是不太可能实现的。

Paramount Pictures announced lately it is delaying the releases of two highly anticipated blockbuster films again—this time until 2021. A Quiet Place: Part II will move from Sept. 4, 2020 to April 23, 2021, while Top Gun: Maverick will eject out of its Dec. 23 date and now land on July 2, 2021. Both films had already been postponed from their original release dates this summer.

派拉蒙影业近日宣布，将再次推迟两部备受期待的大片的上映日期——这一次将推迟到2021年。《寂静之地2》的上映日期将从2020年9月4日改为2021年4月23日，而《壮志凌云2：独行侠》的上映日期则从12月23日改为2021年7月2日。原定于今夏上映的这两部电影的档期此前都已推迟过。

Other studios have made a number of similar announcements recently. Universal rescheduled Halloween Kills from October 2020 to the same month in 2021. Warner Bros. pushed Godzilla vs. Kong from November of this year to May 2021.

其他电影公司近期也发布了一系列类似的通知。环球影业把《万圣节：杀戮》的档期从2020年10月改为2021年10月。华纳兄弟电影公司把《哥斯拉大战金刚》的档期从今年11月推迟到2021年5月。

Hollywood studios are in an extraordinarily difficult position. If they wait much longer to release their films in theaters, there might not be any theaters left to show the films. As it is, the major theater chains are hanging on by a thread, generating zero revenue while still having to pay rent. But if studios release movies now, they’ll be doing so without the largest film market in the world (the US) and would be inviting unprecedented levels of piracy as Americans, desperate for new films, could resort to illegally watching recordings from other countries. Neither option is good, but the latter one would at least help the theater industry stave off total annihilation.

好莱坞电影公司的处境尤为艰难。如果他们还要等很久才能在影院上映电影，到时候可能没有电影院可以放映影片了。实际上，现在大型连锁影院已经朝不保夕，在没有收入的同时还要支付租金。但如果电影公司现在上映电影，他们将失去世界上最大的电影市场

Still from film Tenet. Source: Warner Bros.

Accordingly, several blockbuster films are still up in the air. Disney delayed Mulan again and has not yet announced a new release date for the film. The release of Tenet, the action thriller from director Christopher Nolan that was supposed to usher moviegoers back to reopened theaters, is back on hold as Warner Bros. mulls over a new strategy. The studio could be forced to release the film outside the US—where many theaters have reopened—while waiting for more American theaters to do the same.

因此，还有几部大片仍然等待上映。迪士尼再次推迟了《花木兰》的上映时间，但还未公布新的档期。导演克里斯托弗·诺兰的惊险动作片《信条》原本是想用来吸引影迷回到重新开放的影院，现在由于华纳兄弟公司在考虑的一个新策略而撤档。华纳兄弟可能会被迫在美国以外的地区上映该片，许多地区的影院都已经重新开放，一边等待更多美国影院重新开放。

Another slate of films meant to dominate the box office during the 2020 holiday season is suddenly in a precarious position as well. This includes Dune, the long-awaited adaptation of the sci-fi novel of the same name, and Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story. Both films are, for the time being, scheduled for worldwide release around Christmas.

原本要在2020年节假日主宰票房的另一波电影也突然岌岌可危。其中包括期待已久的改编自同名科幻小说的电影《沙丘》，还有史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格版的《西区故事》。两部电影目前暂定于圣诞节前后在全球上映。

These movies would make far too much in ticket sales to bypass a theatrical release entirely. But some relatively less lucrative—but still significant—movies are going digital. Orion Pictures announced lately it will make Bill & Ted Face the Music available for on-demand rental on Sept. 1. If any theaters are willing to show the film, they’re welcome to do so, the company said. But, either way, it’s moving forward with a digital release.

这些电影能带来的巨额票房收入令其不能完全放弃在影院上映。但一些盈利能力相对较差但依然重要的电影则转为数字放映。奥利安影视公司近日宣布，将从9月1日起开放《比尔和泰德寻歌记》的视频点播。该公司称，如果任何影院愿意放映这部电影，欢迎他们这么做。但是，无论如何，这部电影都会以数字的形式播放。

Until there is a widely distributed and effective vaccine, no theatrical release date should be considered safe. While experiences will vary by country, moviegoers in many locations shouldn’t expect anything resembling a return to normalcy until spring 2021 at the earliest. With all the delays, 2021 should be a big year for film—if the industry survives 2020.

在有效的疫苗能广泛发放之前，没有哪部电影的上映日期是能打包票的。尽管各国的观影情况不同，但对许多地区的影迷而言，最早也要到2021年春天才能有望恢复正常。在这么多电影被延迟上映的情况下，2021年应该是一个电影大年——如果影院能熬过2020年的话。