Tom Hanks says cinema halls will ‘absolutely’ survive COVID-19

Hollywood veteran Tom Hanks believes movie theatres will “absolutely” sail through the coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview with Collider, Hanks addressed the impact of COVID-19 on cinema halls which led to the release of many anticipated titles on various streaming platforms.

Hanks calls the shift to digital medium a “due” change.

“A sea change was due, anyway. It was coming… Will movie theatres still exist? Absolutely, they will. In some ways, I think the exhibitors, once they’re up and open, are going to have the freedom of choice of what movies they’re going to play”, the actor said.

Hanks, whose latest big screen release is News of the World, believes theatres will always be the go-to option for big budget franchises, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

“Big event motion pictures are going to rule the day at the cinemas”, Hanks said, adding that his Paul Greengrass-directed drama “might be the last adult movie about people saying interesting things that’s going to play on a big screen”.

“After this, in order to guarantee that people show up again, we’re going to have the Marvel Universe and all sorts of franchises.”

The 64-year-old actor said storytellers are now learning to produce content for digital space.

“The sea change that has been brought by COVID-19 has been a slow train coming. I think there will be an awful lot of movies that will only be streamed, and I think it will be fine to see them that way because they will actually be built and made and constructed for somebody’s pretty good widescreen TV at their home,” he said.