In a marathon week of cancelations due to the coronavirus epidemic, Comic-Con International has postponed the annual WonderCon Anaheim event scheduled for April. In a statement, they noted:
“To protect public health and slow the rate of transmission of COVID-19, the California Department of Public Health announced a recommendation that gatherings and events of more than 250 people should either be postponed or canceled. Comic-Con (organizer of WonderCon) will abide by this recommendation. Therefore WonderCon Anaheim, scheduled for April 10-12, 2020 in Anaheim, California, will be postponed until a later date. We will begin processing refunds in the coming days.“
This news follows California Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to recommend gatherings over 250 people be postponed or canceled until at least the end of March. The question now is how long will it take for Comic-Con to postpone or cancel the annual San Diego Comic-Con scheduled this year for July 23-26. The organization reported that 135,000 people attended the 2019 event from 80 countries around the world. The issue may not be whether cases of the virus have died down by July, but whether attendees want to spend the money to travel with so much uncertainty in the air. Additionally, there will be questions about whether talent is still willing to appear in public at that time. The availability or willingness of talent to attend WonderCon was no doubt part of the reason Comic-Con postponed despite Newsom’s directive set for just this month.
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Other events that have canceled or been postponed over the past week include SXSW, Coachella and CinemaCon. Broadway is suspending all performances until April 12. The NBA, MLS, MLB and NHL have suspended their seasons until further notice. The releases of “A Quiet Place, Part II” and “F9” have been significantly delated.
Network upfronts, scheduled for May, may also be canceled or held remotely. The fate of the Cannes Film Festival, set for Mid-May, is also unclear.
