The future of the theatrical experience was in doubt at the height of the Covid pandemic, with cinemas closed, smaller chains going into administration and many uncertain of whether any of them would open again. One person who has been instrumental in bringing people back to theaters is Marvel boss Kevin Feige, who has seen Marvel movies continue to be one of the biggest draws for cinemagoers in the wake of the Covid shutdowns. However, in a recent appearance on The Movie Business Podcast, Feige explained that he was told back in 2020 exactly how long it was going to take for cinemas to recover from the pandemic. He said:

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

“I was talking to somebody, and I will not namedrop, but I was on a Zoom with a group of people and I sort of shared this, ‘Is it gonna go away? Is the movie business gonna go away?’ And this very smart person said, ‘It’s not.’ He said, ‘It’s gonna take a few years,’ and this person said three years, and this was almost three years ago [around 2020]. [They] said, ‘It’ll take about three years to get better.’ And I thought, ‘That’s horrible. I want it to take six months to get better.’ And this very smart person turned out to be right.

But this person also said, I’m not a sport fan, but this person said, ‘Look, anybody can watch any football game they want on television. But every week, hundreds of thousands, millions of people still go into stadiums in freezing cold, in the rain, with a ton of people, driving, parking, overspending for a beer and a hotdog, because that shared experience is necessary for humanity. And that if one day, you start to see stadiums empty at sporting events, then you can start worrying about theatrical. But, that’s not gonna happen, because you need this shared experience.’ So, my prognosis for the future is very positive, and there’ll be lots of change and lots of disruption, but people still wanna be in a theater, and cry, and cheer, and laugh together. And you’re seeing that this holiday season and hopefully we’ll see it continue to build and grow next year. It’s incredible and I’ve seen quotes that people present about the fall of theatrical, thinking, ‘Oh yes, this is a new hot take.’ And then you realize, it’s from Variety from July of 1928.”

Will Marvel Movies Help 2023 To A Huge Box Office Result?

     Marvel Studios

This year, like last, will see Marvel movies dominating release schedules, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Marvels all scheduled for the first half of the year there will be almost a whole year before the next release of Captain America: New World Order arrives in May 2024.

Originally, Marvel Studios were meant to have a November 2023 release but this was changed due to a number of delays and shooting postponements that hit movies such as Blade. However, Marvel will still have a presence outside of the MCU with the animated Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse releasing in June and Sony’s Kraven the Hunter hoping to eradicate the memory of Morbius in October. With other big movies, such as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Flash, Ghostbusters 4 and more will also be arriving this year, 2023 is looking to be the year that cinemas get to steady their ship once again.