If you’re looking to snag a seat at an upcoming FYC screening, chances are there’s no need to arrive early.
Multiple sources tell THR that attendance for some in-person events has plummeted far below prepandemic averages. “It’s bad,” said an awards veteran of the trend, which is impacting official screenings for the Academy to various guilds.
Just how bad? Multiple sources confirmed that some showings at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater — with a capacity of 1,000 — had hosted fewer than 50 guests for some screenings. Bucking the downward spike has been screenings with A-list talent and Q&As for such films as Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, Rian Johnson’s The Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as well as healthy turnouts for a series of SAG events featuring Q&As with talent including Florence Pugh and Keke Palmer.
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“It’s COVID,” blamed one source while another listed off a variety of factors including online screening options, production commitments, an overwhelming number of screening invites, and a general shift in social calendars. “Pivot” is the most popular word being thrown about this season as strategists are carefully considering theater choices, shuffling invite lists and, in some cases, tripling the number of invites in order to reach capacity. (Typical events thinking is that half the number of guests invited will actually show up.)
“You can’t compare this year to last year or even the year before,” said one insider. “This is where we are now and this is the new reality.”
This story first appeared in the Dec. 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
