THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

WHAT TO WATCH WHILE WE WAIT FOR TENET

By releasing a brand new trailer last week, Warner Bros gave their best indication yet that they still expect Christopher Nolan and his new mind-bending espionage TENET to be the saviour of the cinema experience.

Due for release in mid-July, theatre owners are frantically preparing their cinemas to open safely, while abiding by government-imposed social distancing restrictions.

Last weekend, more than 200 cinemas were open in the USA, twice the amount than the weekend prior. Cinemas are opening in Europe, China and even for our Kiwi cousins over the ditch. With economic pressure building, Australia's restrictions will be lightened in the coming weeks (if not days).

So, here’s a bunch of movies that cinemas could explore screening in June and July, while we wait for TENET.

INCEPTION

According to Reelgood, Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending heist thriller is the second most watched movie on Netflix during the Coronavirus lockdown. Full of dreams within dreams and head-scratching time paradoxes, INCEPTION appears to share many thematic elements with TENET, to the extent that rumours are swirling that TENET is in fact a surprise sequel.

STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

If cinemas are to survive in a post-pandemic world, one thing they will need to get back is their passionate fans... and there’s no fan base more passionate than STAR WARS nerds. Celebrate the reopening of cinemas with 40th Anniversary screenings of STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, regraded as the best movie from the franchise.

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

After premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN was due to release in April, but thanks to our favourite pandemic, the intriguing revenge tale was pulled from the schedule. Universal Pictures are still searching for a new release date, and with the later half of 2020 and next year now over-packed, a direct to streaming release seems inevitable. An early July release could be worth the gamble.

BOOKSMART

A recent survey published by Variety magazine asked moviegoers which genre they would prefer to see in a cinema Post-Covid world, with 43% of respondents naming comedy as the genre with the most allure. BOOKSMART was one of the funniest, fresh and best reviewed titles of 2019, its infectious laughter might be just what the doctor ordered for cinemas.

JOJO RABBIT

BOOKSMART wasn’t the only movie that had audiences in stitches last year. Taika Waititi bought his unique witty dialogue to the silver screen with JOJO RABBIT, a film that takes one of history's darkest periods and infects it with kindness, humanity and a sense of hope...

All of which we could do with a little more of during our recovery.

AVATAR or GRAVITY

To get audiences off their sofas, cinemas will need to present films where the big screen immersion can't be replicated at home. Sci-fi epics like AVATAR or GRAVITY will not only get audiences back to the cinema but they'll also be taken on a journey though outer-space to the luminous world of Pandora.

LA LA LAND

LA LA LAND is a movie about loving movies. It's a technical feat of film-making that pays tribute to the greatest musicals ever put on the big screen. In 2016, Damian Chazelle breathed new life into a forgotten genre, perhaps now his breath can revive the cinema experience.

TRAVEL MOVIES

The industry hit hardest by COVID-19 is undoubtedly international travel. It seems for the foreseeable future we ca no longer visit exotic destinations. WRONG! Cinema audiences can take extraordinary journeys just by sitting at their favorite picture house. Curate a festival of movies that puts a spotlight on their incredible locations, swim in paradise with Leonardo DiCaprio and THE BEACH, wander the streets of Vienna, Paris and Messinia with Richard Linklater's BEFORE TRILOGY or stay at THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL in India.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

This enduring, much-loved classic about wrongful incarceration and dreams of liberation will feel all to familiar to audiences learning to explore outside their home again. I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. "Get busy living, or get busy dying".

V FOR VENDETTA

For those who are less accepting of government forced restrictions and eager to see a tyrannic government overthrown, look no further than 2005's V FOR VENDETTA which explores the themes of rebellion, anarchy, patience and love with some matrix-style action set-pieces and strong symbolism.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Last year more than 100 million people went to see the Marvel superhero epic AVENGERS: ENDGAME. With social-distancing laws starting to ease, Marvel fans could assemble and save the day for cinema owners. Otherwise, BLACK WIDOW might be in real threat for its release in November.

CAST AWAY

Have you made friends with a volleyball yet? No? CAST AWAY will put the level of isolation we've experienced into perspective. Not-to-mention Tom Hanks who literally conquered Coronavirus himself, and is now donating his blood to help discover a vaccine.

ALTERNATE CONTENT

It may be a while before crowds can re-gather at sports stadiums, grand theatres or concert halls for a while. Cinemas could explore getting the rights to screen live and pre-recorded event cinema to try and emulate some of the atmosphere from those events (even with a half-full cinema). Disney recently acknowledged the demand for these events and last week announced they'll be releasing Broadway's HAMILTON to Disney+.

GLADIATOR

Russell Crowe's next film UNHINGED is scheduled to release in the United States on 1 July, (yes, even before TENET). However UNHINGED does not yet have an international release scheduled. Australian audiences could be lured back to cinemas by seeing their favourite actor in his most famous of roles with a re-release of GLADIATOR, which celebrated its 20th Anniversary during the lock down.