Box Office: IMAX Is A Key Variable In Rescheduling 2020’s Biggest Movies

Wonder Woman 1984, Top Gun: Maverick, No Time to Die and Tenet all require at least a limited IMAX engagement, since they were partially shot with IMAX cameras.

It seems optimistic for Warner Bros. to keep Chris Nolan’s Tenet in its current July 17 release slot. If the John David Washington/Robert Pattinson thriller opens on schedule, it’ll open one week before Niki Caro’s Mulan and a month before Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984. It will be the first big live-action blockbuster since Sonic the Hedgehog in mid-February. That would be an advantage, which is partially why WB has yet to officially delay the film. The other issue, along with the relative absence of marketing thus far (thus no harm/no foul in terms of advertising money being spent), is about access to IMAX IMAX (and related PLF) screens. The need to schedule around IMAX availability has turned this post-coronavirus rescheduling into a sudoku puzzle, as several major films essentially require an “IMAX Experience.”

This conundrum started right off the bat, with MGM and Universal’s No Time to Die moving from April to November. Its domestic release is set for November 25, Thanksgiving weekend, which is an annoyance for Walt Disney DIS ’s animated Raya and the Last Dragon and especially Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong. The monster sequel, already delayed from March 13 well before the pandemic began, was banking on both being the big live-action event movie of the Thanksgiving season and having access to IMAX screens and at least some of the related PLF (Dolby Cinema, AMC Prime, etc.) offerings. Alas, not only is No Time to Die a bigger fish (Godzilla: King of the Monsters earned just $385 million worldwide), but portions of Cary Fukunaga’s 007 film are actually shot with IMAX cameras.   

In yet another reason why a pandemic hitting this year was grimly ironic, many of the delayed films were also partially shot using IMAX cameras. DC Films’ Wonder Woman 1984 has scenes shot in IMAX, as does Chris Nolan’s (allegedly) time-traveling espionage actioner Tenet, the aforementioned James Bond flick and even Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick. Thus far, the related releases are spread out well enough, with a month between Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984 and a month between No Time to Die and Tom Cruise’s Top Gun 2 on December 23. Not only does Top Gun: Maverick’s Christmas release mean that Dune will only have IMAX screens for (at best) five days, it also seemingly precludes either of WB’s big blockbusters (WW84 and Tenet) from moving to that key December 18 slot.

This is less of an issue in September and October, although Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile (October 9) was shot on 70 mm film, for what that’s worth. Nonetheless, if Wonder Woman 1984 gets delayed again, or if Tenet can’t make its July 17 slot, then October 2 might be an ideal new launching pad. Yes, Sony may have Venom 2 slotted there, but they’ve been oddly coy about making that official. Moreover, Warner Bros. practically invented the early October blockbuster, first with Demolition Man way back in 1993 and then Gravity in 2013, Annabelle in 2014, Blade Runner 2049 (a failed attempt, but I digress) in 2017, A Star Is Born in 2018 and Joker in 2019. Any biggie launched there would have IMAX screens until Black Widow on November 6.

One good thing is that the availability of IMAX screens is almost certain to create at least the potential for new “safe” blockbuster release dates. Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II is almost certain to become the first mega-hit ever to open on Labor Day weekend when it debuts on September 4 in DLP and IMAX. If Godzilla Vs. Kong doesn’t move, and if Raya and the Last Dragon launches on the 25th, we’ll see if Thanksgiving can handle two huge live-action flicks (one opening and one in weekend two) alongside the Disney toon. If Wonder Woman 1984 gets delayed and/or if Tenet and Mulan (currently sacrificing IMAX screens to Nolan’s sci-fi flick) get moved, we may see three of the biggest movies of 2020 end up in some otherwise unconventional blockbuster release dates.

While the vast majority of the delayed movies can arguably open anywhere on the calendar, special consideration does need to be given to those expecting, nay requiring, an IMAX engagement. If Godzilla vs. Kong flees November 20, 2020 for some time in 2021, that (along with No Time to Die slowly opening overseas starting as early as November 12), will be partially why. If Dune flees December 18, especially if Top Gun: Maverick pulls a Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and opens five days early exclusively in IMAX, that will be partially why. And if nothing, including Tenet, exceptionally huge gets rescheduled to December 18, blame Top Gun: Maverick’s “shot in IMAX” sequences for that. In the race to get the delayed tentpoles to new release dates, IMAX access has become the deal-breaking variable.