‘Barbenheimer’ Fever… and Then What? How Major Film Delays Amid the Strikes Could Damage the Movie Business

variety.com:

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Not this again. After the two years of havoc that COVID inflicted on their business, movie theater owners thought they were past the days of blank marquees.

Studios, miraculously, have been releasing films at a regular rate. And better yet, people are showing up to see them. Not to mention “Barbenheimer” — the glorious, explosive, ecstatically meme-able phenomenon of “Barbenheimer”!

But then — what is the opposite of a deus ex machina? — came a pair of labor strikes that brought Hollywood to a standstill and now threaten to upend the release calendar in the back half of 2023.

For cinema operators, it’s bringing back a dreaded sense of pandemic-era PTSD, reviving memories of the long gaps in between new movies that kept people at home (and away from concession stands). “We are enjoying this party and don’t know what comes next,” says Joe Masher, chief operating officer of Bow Tie Cinemas, referring to the sustained hype of “Barbenheimer.” “If the strike drags on, we are seriously concerned.