The pandemic has changed a lot of what we think of when it comes to both making and distributing movies. To release a movie in theaters versus dropping it on streaming or video on demand is a big decision with big repercussions, especially when it comes to tentpole movies. In a recent interview, George Clooney addressed how distribution and production are changing because of the pandemic, and how releasing a film like “Tenet” was “tricky.”
The interview comes from The Hollywood Reporter, where Clooney promoted his upcoming film “The Midnight Sky,” which will be distributed by Netflix, pretty much the only studio not heavily affected by the pandemic in terms of distribution. “Good timing that I was with Netflix, huh? I mean, it’s funny. ‘Tenet ‘and us are like the only two big films that are coming out this year,” Clooney says, before he’s asked whether he’s seen the Christopher Nolan film since most theaters in Los Angeles remain closed. “I haven’t seen it either. Trying to force people into a movie theater is an awfully tricky thing to do when you’re in the middle of a pandemic.”
Clooney goes on to talk about how the release of the film is being affected because of the pandemic. Though Netflix notoriously doesn’t show their movies in theaters, they’ve opened to theatrical distribution, albeit limited, the last couple of years. According to Clooney, “You know, the cinematographer’s a genius, and the effects are amazing and to see it on a big screen is the way you’re supposed to see a film like this, you know? It was made for that. And you know, we’ll do a premiere somewhere at a drive-in somewhere to see at least something on a big screen. But yeah, it’s unfortunate.”
The actor/director also offers an interesting solution for film screenings and cultural events to continue post-pandemic, but before a vaccine. “At some point, forgetting the idea of a vaccine, forgetting the medicines that we’ll have and all of that, it’s going to come down to really good, fast, instant testing, like a pregnancy test,” Clooney explains. “And then everybody can go back to school and go to work and go to concerts and go to movies and do everything. You slam a thing up your nose, if it turns green you go in, if it turns red you go home.”