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  • In case you haven't heard:

    ‘Black Widow’ Release Pulled Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

    Disney’s “Black Widow” is the latest tentpole to shift its release date because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The Marvel superhero adventure, starring Scarlett Johansson, was slated to hit theaters on May 1. The studio also pulled the Dev Patel-led drama “The Personal History of David Copperfield” from its Searchlight banner and Amy Adams’ “The Woman in the Window,” a 20th Century title, which were supposed to debut on May 8 and April 15, respectively. It’s unclear when any of the films will be released.

    Disney has already delayed “Mulan,” “The New Mutants” and “Antlers,” but held off on postponing “Black Widow” in the hopes that it wouldn’t have to scrap another big film. But the move was inevitable since movie theaters in multiple states, including New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, have been ordered to close. Only AMC Theatres has given a timeline on how long its locations might be closed, estimating six to 12 weeks for venues nationwide.

    FULL STORY

  • RE the image at the top of this column: xFeziau.gif

  • My latest column deals with pandemic delays and cancellations.

  • Some good news!!

    TwoMorrows is offering a discount of $4.99 which amounts to a free digital copy of any of their magazines. It is good until 3-31-2020. Use the redemption code: stayhome

    Very nice of them!

  • Atom Tickets email has a suggestion that people who pretend to have seen classic movies actually take this time to see them

    https://atomtickets.com/movie-news/classic-movies-everyone-lies-abo...

  • What do you mean "COVID-19 and comics?!" I'm in Connecticut and the state is on lock down! Comic shops are closed by paranoid government mandate.

    Fortunately, I work for an essential service; so, I can still report to work on Monday.
  • Diamond Comics Distributors is not taking in shipments of comics from the publishers, say Bleeding Cool (here) and ComicBook.com (here). Diamond will ship out whatever comics, boos, magazines, toys, etc., it has on hand, but after that, it's anybody's guess.

  • Also, apparently Diamond is allowing retailers to sell this week's comics as soon as they get them, rather than waiting for the Wednesday on-sale date, in the hopes of getting some some sales in before more mandatory closings. 

  • Also, Transcontinental Printing in Canada will be shutting down for the next three weeks, staring tomorrow. They print DC comics, among others. 

    Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

    Also, apparently Diamond is allowing retailers to sell this week's comics as soon as they get them, rather than waiting for the Wednesday on-sale date, in the hopes of getting some some sales in before more mandatory closings. 

  • Retailer Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics weighs in: "New Comics Distribution Ends"

    Chuck Rozanski wrote:

    Were this temporary publishing shutdown taking place in a vibrant and healthy market, I would have no concerns. Modern comics publishing is, however, an 87 year-old business (born in 1933), that has been in failing health for years. If even 20% of the comics shops in America cannot reopen after the pandemic restrictions are lifted, I doubt that we will see a revival. Simply put, both AT&T (Time/Warner’s (DC comic) new parent company) and Disney (Marvel’s parent company) are in dangerous financial stress right now. Expecting them to allocate precious resources to restoring print publishing is simply not logical. Maintaining intellectual property rights might have (barely) justified their decisions to continue to issue paper comics on a monthly basis up to now, but the vast financial losses currently being absorbed by those two media giants are going to require severe cost-cutting if they are to survive as ongoing enterprises. Sadly, keeping comic book publishing alive may well rank among the least of their concerns.
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