Films that are now showing on Amazon & Co. because of Corona

Corona is also giving the film and cinema industry a hard time. Almost paradoxically, the actual competition offers a partial solution: streaming providers.

Corona means an enormous turning point for the film industry

There were already signs of major financial losses when the movie theaters in China had to close at the beginning of 2020 due to the virus. After all, the People’s Republic is the second most important market in the world – after the USA. The cinemas there and in many other countries have also been closed since mid-March 2020. Now they are again or still are. Some films, including works by well-known studios such as Universal and Pixar, are therefore being released on streaming platforms for a rental fee in order to contain the financial consequences and allow the audience to enjoy new films despite the pandemic.

The streaming providers are actually a competition for the studios, especially since Netflix and Co. have been setting up high-quality in-house productions. Due to the corona, some real hits continue to migrate to the streaming platforms that were supposed to premiere on the big screen.

As the first studio, Universal announced in March 2020 that it would also offer current movies as a stream. Sony, Warner Brothers and market giant Disney soon followed suit. At Disney, there is also the fact that the company has excellent opportunities of its own to publish the films with its new streaming platform Disney + .Films like “The One and Only Ivan” or “ Mulan ” benefited from this. Warner Bros. will do a similar thing in the coming year with its new streaming service HBO Max.The film giant also announced in December 2020 that it would publish all of its films planned for 2021 at the same time on the portal.What this means for German viewers is still unclear, because the service has so far only been available in the USA.

These films are shown on streaming services instead of in theaters

The following films can be seen as a stream. The vast majority are available from Amazon for a rental fee of up to 18 euros. Competitor Netflix, however, increased the number of Oscar candidates in 2021 , some of which appeared directly from the provider.

• After Midnight (Amazon)
• After Truth (Amazon)
• Artemis Fowl (Disney +)
• Berlin, Berlin (Netflix)
• Bombshell (Amazon, Sky, Google Play)
• Borate 2 (Amazon)
• Chaos at the fire station (Amazon)
• Conjuring 3 (HBO Max from May 2021)
• The one and only Ivan (Disney +)
• Dune (HBO Max starting October 2021)
• The kangaroo chronicles (Sky, iTunes, Amazon, Maxdome)
• The Gentleman (Amazon, YouTube)
• Godzilla vs. Kong (HBO Max March 2021)
• Greenland (YouTube)
• Greyhound (Apple TV +)
• The Hunt (YouTube)
• Judas and the Black Messiah (HBO Max)
• The Lovebirds (Netflix)
• Lady Business (Amazon, Sky)
• Mank (Netflix)
• The Many Saints of Newark (HBO Max announced for September 2021)
• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
• Matrix 4 (HBO Max announced for 2021)
• Mortal Kombat (HBO Max announced for 2021)
• Mulan (Disney +)
• Narcissus and Goldmund (Amazon, Sky)
• News from the world (Netflix)
• One Night in Miami (Amazon)
• Onward: No Half Measures (Disney +)
• The Prince from Zamunda 2 (Amazon)
• Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney +)
• The Rhythm Section – Time of Vengeance (Amazon)
• Soul (Disney +)
• Sound of Metal (Amazon)
• Spongebob SquarePants: A Sponge-Tastic Rescue (announced as VoD)
• The Suicide Squad (HBO Max announced for 2021)
• Tenet (Sky from April 2021)
• The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
• Wonder Woman 1984 (HBO Max)

Note: This list does not claim to be complete. If you discover more movies on streaming platforms because of Corona, please write to us at comments.

Also interesting: series starts that have been postponed due to Corona

Some cinema launches are simply being postponed

• A Quiet Place: Part II (March 20 – new date: April 23, 2021)
• James Bond: No Time to Die (April 2nd – new date: April 2nd, 2021)
• Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (April 03 – new date: March 18, 2021)
• Antlers (April 17th – new date: October 29th 2021)
• Black Widow (April 30 – new date: May 7, 2021)
• Fast & Furious 9 (May 21 – new date: April 01, 2021)
• The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run (May 22nd – New date: July 31st)
• F9 (May 22nd – new date: April 2nd, 2021)
• Saw: Spiral (June 11 – new date: May 20, 2021)
• Top Gun Maverick (June 24th – new date: July 8th, 2021)
• Minions 2: In Search of the Mini-Boss (July 09 – new date: July 01, 2021)
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife (July 10th – new date: March 5th, 2021)
• Morbius (July 31 – new date: March 19, 2021)
• Soul (October 1st – new date: November 26th)
• Cruella (December 23 – new date: May 27, 2021)
• Fatherhood (January 15, 2021 – new date: October 23, 2021)
• Uncharted (March 5th, 2021 – new date: October 8th, 2021)
• Fast & Furious 10 (April 01, 2021)
• Avatar 2 (December 17, 2021 – new date: December 16, 2022)

Conflict between cinema chains and film productions

One person’s joy is another’s pain – and in this case the ones who suffer are definitely the cinemas. Where the streaming operators, studios and perhaps one or the other viewer are happy that the latest films can simply flicker on their home screen, the cinemas are the losers if they a) have to remain closed for much longer and b) them also miss out on big blockbusters. As a result, large cinema chains such as AMC were already threatening to show no more universal films at all in the future.

Disney’s decision not to show the blockbuster “Mulan” in the cinemas after all, but to publish it directly on Disney + for an additional fee, also caused displeasure among cinema operators. The Disney films have been box office hits for years. In addition, this decision could have long-term consequences because “Mulan” is the largest film to date to be released directly digitally. In this way, inhibitions in this regard could also drop significantly in the future.

Save cinemas

The fact that the cinemas in particular are affected by the Corona crisis also led to a wave of solidarity for popular cinemas. With some films such as “The Kangaroo Chronicles” it is known that around 15 percent of the income generated via video-on-demand will flow into a fund to support cinemas in this country.