Trolls World Tour next wide release a month from now, while My Spy and other films missing wide release opportunity

My Spidey sense is tingling concerning the movie, My Spy.

I understand why some of the movie dates are being pushed back. Don’t quite get it with A Quiet Place Part II, that movie could dominate for a nearly a month in whatever theater attendance exists because it would largely be the only game in town.

Everybody that is seeing movies and braving the crowds, including the new policy of “social separation” (more on that to follow), will be lapping up whatever movies are sent our way.

Face it, the theaters for the next month are going to be like water in the desert. Tumblweeds.

My Spy, I’m calling out. That movie definitely should not have not been pushed back again. It’s already been pushed back multiple times, which was making me wonder what was happening with the movie. Not all movie date pushbacks are bad, mind you, especially if they do reshoots, re-editing and fix things that private screenings expose, but there undoubtedly in the current times be movies that push back using the virus as an excuse for additional promotion.

And, here we go, talk of the gay couple subplot and it being tangentially about the LGBTQ presence in movies:

At its heart, My Spy is a story about Dave Bautista getting caught during spy work by a young girl who then blackmails him into teaching her how to be a spy. However, a subplot in this story has young Sophie living next to a gay couple who help drive the tale to some of its funniest moments. Ahead of its release, Dave Bautista has spoken about the LGBT representation in the movie and the fans’ reactions to it.

Dave Bautista Talks Diversity In My Spy After Reactions Praise LGBT Representation – CINEMABLEND

Subplots for diversity? Sigh. Is that all the movie could have done for diversity is make it a subplot? If it’s going to get praise for LGBTQ representation, then why isn’t it a more central plot?

I haven’t seen My Spy yet, can’t because they pushed it back again, but if they had released it this weekend as it was scheduled, I’d be able to see it and comment on how significant the gay couple next door is to the actual movie storyline

(just by the description above it sounds like it was shoehorned in — which is not a favorable way to present any diverse group of people)

What makes me suspicious is that the studio is jumping on the coronavirus excuse train instead of the business logic one, is the LGBQT angle. Is this some promoter pushing this as a social justice angle for the film? This hasn’t worked with other films and now I’m concerned about this one.

Here’s an idea. Why not have made the gay couple the spies? Why not make the gay couple the central characters instead of some beefy white guy (Dave Bautista)? Now that would be a film that promotes diversity.

As a subplot, it’s almost an insult and will only lead to criticism from people saying that it was unnecessary, unneeded and done intentionally to increase attendance from the LGBTQ audience. Moviegoers see through this stuff. Really, we do.

If I was a studio head right now, I’d be moving my new movie into the empty movie theater parking lots until April 10 when Trolls World Tour hits. That’s a month of opportunity to lap up any/all new ticket sales. If your movie is even remotely interesting and entertaining it’s going to sell better in the next month than it will when it goes up against four, five or more wide releases later this year.

Mark my words, that competition is inevitable. The studios only have room for so many wide release movies, so the 2-4 movies each week for 4 weeks that should have been released will now be tacked onto other weeks when there are already 2-4 wide release movies.

Seriously, do the studios think the average moviegoer is going to see double and triple-header movies just because they decided to go wide the same weekend as tentpole movies like No Time To Die?

It’s not my money. I get what they are trying to do. They think releasing now when theater attendance is down and there is a severely limited international audience makes sense. I get it for James Bond #25 (see: Even James Bond isn’t immune to coronavirus, No Time to Die pushed back to November) but I don’t for A Quiet Place Part II or My Spy and probably dozens more movies with less fanfare that are missing a significant moviegoer audience who wants to see your films right now, coronavirus be damned.

Or, maybe you think I’m wrong and we should have literally a black hole for all new movies for a month? It doesn’t make any sense to starve the hungry.

I do agree there are some gigantic budget movies that depend critically on international box office sales, and those should be pushed back, but where are the lower budget films? The ones that don’t have the bigger international draw? Why aren’t those being released between now and Trolls World Tour on April 10?

Riddle me this, Batman: a month of empty theaters, just another middle finger from this virus gone wild.

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