With a second wave of COVID sweeping through Europe, cinemas in England, France and Germany have begun to shut down. Can movie theaters in North America and elsewhere soon follow their lead as infection rates rise? Even if cinemas remain open, they won’t have many new movies to show with studios moving major releases into next year.
As major cinema chains around the world report cratering third-quarter revenue they have begun to accept they may have to play titles with shorter release windows, at least until the pandemic is over. This has led to the National Association of Theatre Owners saying that if Congress doesn’t pass a relief bill soon, some 70% of cinemas in North America will declare bankruptcy or go out of business entirely.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Jay-Z is looking to get high on his own supply, Johnny Depp gets dumped from “Fantastic Beasts” and Netflix goes linear (at least in France).

China Box Office Propels ‘Sacrifice’ Past $100 Million
https://variety.com/2020/film/box-office/china-box-office-sacrifice-1234821249/
‘Demon Slayer’ Nearing $200M In Japan; ‘Tenet’ Tops $350M Worldwide – International Box Office
https://deadline.com/2020/11/demon-slayer-200-million-japan-tenet-come-play-witches-let-him-go-global-international-box-office-1234611243/
Major NBCUniversal Layoffs In TV & Streaming Unit To Begin In Mid-November
https://deadline.com/2020/10/nbcuniversal-layoffs-tv-streaming-unit-november-december-1234605350/
Disney Studio Division, Including Searchlight, Also Hit With Layoffs Following ESPN Cuts
https://deadline.com/2020/11/disney-searchlight-pictures-layoffs-espn-covid-19-1234609891/
Lionsgate Lays Off 15% of Film Staff as Hollywood Suffers From the Pandemic
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-11-05/lionsgate-layoffs-covid-pandemic-john-wick
Jay-Z Launches ‘Monogram’ Cannabis Line With Caliva
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9471867/jay-z-monogram-cannabis-line-caliva/
Bruce Springsteen Becomes First Act With Top Five-Charting Albums in Each of Last Six Decades With ‘Letter to You’
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9476652/bruce-springsteen-makes-history-with-letter-to-you/
Johnny Depp Forced to Exit ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Franchise
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/johnny-depp-exhits-fantastic-beasts-franchise-1234824564/
Major VFX Landscape Shake-Up: Framestore Buys Company 3, Method
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/major-vfx-landscape-shake-up-framestore-buys-company-3-method