Hollywood film premieres and festivals are delayed, canceled in light of coronavirus

New Brunswick, N.J. (Mar. 12, 2020) – Rutgers scholar Albert Nigrin, an expert in cinema studies, is available to discuss Hollywood’s reaction to COVID-19 as it postpones the premiere of several films, including No Time to Die, the 25th installment of the James Bond franchise, and the new live-action Mulan film. 

“This coronavirus is quite serious and will impact virtually all entertainment platforms, including the motion picture industry,” he said. “It will have a heavy impact on studio audiences for late-night show tapings as producers and staff prepare for audience and talent safety. It is too soon to tell how significant the impact will be, but I think it is wise to cancel film premieres, film festivals and other public film screenings until the country comes to grips with the scope of this crisis. No one knows when and if that will happen. No one knows what the next 24 hours will bring. But movie screenings will have to wait.”

Nigrin, a cinema studies lecturer at Rutgers–New Brunswick, is an expert in American cinema. He is the executive director of the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, Inc., which presents the New Jersey Film Festival, the New Jersey International Film Festival and the United States Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival.

 

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