Amazon Prime Video is trying to keep up with the latest streaming trend: blockbuster movies hitting the big screen at home before the movie theaters. Unlike previous blockbusters "Borat 2" and "Coming 2 America," the latest is an original film.
The online retailer's streaming division announced that it has signed on to "The Tomorrow War," a big-budget sci-fi film starring Chris Pratt (Star-Lord himself). The film, by Paramount Pictures, was slated for release in late 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic shut down movie theaters and "The Tomorrow War" was ...... Yes, it has been postponed to a new tomorrow.
According to Deadline, the film stars Pratt as Dan Forrester, "a high school teacher and family man" who receives a message from the citizens of Earth in 2021 that the future is grim and humanity is losing the war against the aliens from 2051.
Therefore, the humans of 2021 must be sent to the future to join the fight. Forrester, along with his estranged father (Simmons) and a "brilliant scientist" (Yvonne Strahovski), save humanity.
"Tomorrow War" was scheduled to be released on July 23, but was moved up to July 2 to accommodate Amazon. Amazon spent $200 million to acquire the film, 160% of what it spent on "Coming 2 America" ($125).
Netflix's Havoc and the big list of movies coming out in 2021 show that the big red streaming machine is taking movies seriously, but HBO Max currently owns the brand as a home box office.
"Godzilla vs. Kong," "Wonder Woman 1984," and "Snyder Cut" all give people a reason to check if they have HBO Max and sign up if they don't. Also, "Mortal Kombat," "Dune," and "Suicide Squad" all have plenty of reasons to keep viewers around.
While domestic movie theaters are still slowly reopening, studios and streaming services are rethinking their plans. For example, Disney Plus has finally relented and will release "Black Widow" both in theaters and through Disney Plus Premiere Access. The overall strategy seems to be to focus on original series like the upcoming "Loki."
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