By Sean Raggio
It may seem as though the world has come to a standstill, but despite the end of sports, public gatherings and the need to distance ourselves from each other, the entertainment world lives on.
Cinephiles everywhere will be able to rejoice as several film studios will be releasing movies early for streaming.
Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Disney and Lionsgate are among others releasing their films throughout March and into April.
“Given the rapidly evolving and unprecedented changes to consumers’ daily lives during this difficult time, the company felt that now was the right time to provide this option in the home as well as in theaters,” NBCUniversal said in a statement.
Some of these movies include “Frozen II,” “Bloodshot,” “The Hunt” and “I Still Believe,” among others.
On top of that, Amazon has launched Prime Video Cinema. It allows consumers to buy or rent movies that would otherwise only be available at the theatres. The titles are only available for 48 hours to rent.
“This is the first time a major Hollywood studio has made a break from the traditional movie release cycle,” said Steven Musil in his CNET article. “Movies usually spend upward of six months in theaters before they move on to predetermined dates for release on other formats, such as digital downloads and rentals, DVDs and, later, TV and streaming.”
While we’ve already gone over a week without mainstream sports, members of the hockey community have taken time to reach out to and connect with their communities.
This past Wednesday, March 18, Stanley Cup champion, and current Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon tweeted to fans that he was going live the following night. He even said he may have people join him, they just had to bring wine.
On Sunday, March 22, Mike Grinnell, producer of Barstool Sports’ Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, went live on Instagram for a Q&A with fans prior to editing an episode.
Musicians are still putting out music despite the inability to tour for the foreseeable future. Childish Gambino and The Weeknd both dropped albums this past week.
The releases mark the first full-length albums released by either artist since 2016. The Weeknd previously released an EP, “My Dear Melancholy,” in 2018.
While you can’t go and see a concert, you may be able to see one from the comfort of your own couch. Bandsintown has launched a new feature to support artists putting on performances for their fans online.
“The concert notification service can now push out a ‘watch live’ notification when musicians are live-streaming shows,” said Dani Deahl in her article from The Verge. “These notifications will appear on Bandsintown, along with Facebook pages, Instagram Stories, and other places that surface Bandsintown listings.”
Despite these unusual times, entertainers are still finding ways to connect with and entertain their fans, giving them a taste of normalcy.