By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES, May 19 (Reuters) - Hollywood movie studios on
Wednesday promised a summer of high-octane car chases, epic
explosions and edge-of-your-seat scares to lure crowds back to
cinemas after they were devastated by extended closures during
the coronavirus pandemic.
Repeating the slogan "the big screen is back," actors,
directors and executives previewed upcoming films in an
industry-wide effort to promote movie-going as vaccinations
increase and safety restrictions ease.
"Just being back in the theater again feels so powerfully
good," "Star Wars" director J.J. Abrams said, standing in front
of a giant screen at an AMC Entertainment theater in Los
Angeles.
"Being in a big, dark room with strangers - screaming and
laughing and experiencing the power of that - is a human,
natural need," he added. "I think it's going to come back in a
pretty roaring way."
Skeptics worry, however, that viewers who devoured streaming
content during the COVID crisis might be reluctant to get off
the sofa and head to a box office.
To entice them, Hollywood will unleash a boatload of films
including Walt Disney's "Cruella" and "Black Widow,"
Universal's Fast & Furious movie "F9," Warner Bros.
musical "In the Heights" and many others just in the
coming weeks.
Many of the films were held back by studio executives who
hoped they could wait out the pandemic and generate blockbuster
ticket sales once movie-going returned. The studios need box
office receipts to help recoup the costs of big-budget movies.
Executives said they were encouraged by recent box office
tallies overseas. In China, buddy-cop comedy "Detective
Chinatown 3" opened in February with $398 million in ticket
sales, a record debut in a single country.
"When the story is great, the audience definitely will
come," said horror filmmaker Jason Blum. "I think we have to
trust them to do that."
Industry leaders are planning the first-ever Cinema Week in
the United States in June, in the vein of Restaurant Week with
special events and promotions. Part of the message, according to
organizers: "It's time to break up with your couch."
"Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaking at
Wednesday's event, offered a similar sentiment.
"Now is the time to wind down this pandemic period,"
Schwarzenegger said. "Now it's time to get back to the big
screen."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Leslie Adler)
