As the coronavirus sweeps across the world, countries from east to west are taking necessary precautions to attempt to stop the spread of the virus. To achieve this, venues and businesses not deemed to be vital to society have been closed down, some for months, with the world of entertainment being crushed as a result.

Of course, we all love and, to an extent, need entertainment in our everyday lives. However, as entertainment doesn’t save lives, feed people, or fuel homes, events had to be canceled and venues closed, leading to entertainment companies across the world struggling to adjust. Still, many are appearing to fight back by adapting the experience or finding other means to connect to people who crave entertainment.

While we recognize that some of the biggest entertainment events on the calendar for this year have been uprooted, it can also be said that there are now lights in an industry that had been going dark of late.

Cinema giant optimistic

While Hollywood runs the American film industry, American cinema is enjoyed around the world and, due to it being such a massive market, Hollywood has been seen pandering to China in its filmmaking. With China being the first to succumb to the coronavirus, major Hollywood releases were among the first to be axed, chiefly from Disney.

As the owner of so many of the biggest cinematic franchises, film series, and film studios in the world right now, Disney stepping back due to the outbreak was huge for theatres. Even though the company has been slowly rolling out Disney+ around the world, Disney has decided to reshuffle movie release dates instead of making its movies available to stream with a Disney+ subscription or watched after buying an online ticket to view the movie once via the platform, in a virtual cinema experience.

Now, moviegoers have a new cinematic schedule to consider, but many of the planned release dates look to be very optimistic. The first is Mulan, which was penned for a March 27 release and is now set for July 24. Then there’s also the first Marvel movie since the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, Black Widow, which has moved to November 6. The move of Black Widow into what was the slot for The Eternals has pushed back all subsequent films on the slate by one place, too.

Video gaming revaluated due to the outbreak

Even though sales figures of video games and the release of the disc-less Xbox One would suggest that the games industry is moving away from physical releases, it’s clear that this avenue of distribution is still vital. Sony, the company behind the industry-leading PlayStation 4, has officially delayed two of the biggest upcoming game releases despite the calendar already being devoid of triple-A competition.

Set to give the PSVR kit a major selling point, Iron Man VR was penned for May 15 after delays, while the sequel to one of the most highly-acclaimed PlayStation games of all time, The Last of Us Part 2, was set for May 29. Now, Sony has announced that its two blockbuster games have been delayed until further notice.

There is, however, some better news in gaming, with The Outer Worlds being given a June 5 release date on the Switch. The Obsidian-developed title was originally delayed due to the outbreak, but a release to the hybrid console is now back on the cards.

Even high-stakes gaming won’t gamble on Covid-19

While the establishments make billions of dollars a year, even the most famous casinos and gambling destinations in the world are struggling under the weight of coronavirus precautions. Stopping mass public gatherings and closing entertainment venues immediately put the likes of Macao, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City on ice, with the stock of major brands sinking as a result.

Many casino companies live and die by their stock prices in the United States. Casino stocks with exposure in Las Vegas have been battered by the pandemic, with closures annihilating cash reserves. It is being expected that many casino venues won’t make it out of the other side of the necessary lockdowns, with people being unable to travel and play in iconic locations like Sin City now for some time.

While little can be done to assist the operations in America during this time, there are platforms offering the entertainment medium to people via the internet. The Slots of Vegas online casino for real money has recreated the sensation of the famous gambling metropolis but in cyberspace – offering bonuses, slots, video poker, table games, and what they call “specialty games.”

The live music calendar takes a beating

As we’ve covered extensively, major live music events across the world have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. Such events naturally bring people together and into proximity to one another, so of course, music festivals had to be postponed or canceled outright. Two of the biggest in the world, though, have hopes to go ahead in the future.

The UK’s Glastonbury Festival, which was set to stage the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Dua Lipa, Sir Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Diana Ross, and Noel Gallagher this year, has been completely canceled in 2020. The major live music event is next lined up to take place at the end of June in 2021.

In the States, Coachella was set to corral over 100,000 people to the California desert, but it too has been set back. While not as drastically hit as Glastonbury, Coachella is now hoping that it will be able to take place from the second week of October with much of its lineup making it to the new dates.

While the world of entertainment has, understandably, been on lockdown, companies are clearly expecting it to be business as usual before the year is up. Until then, there are still some novel entertainment options out there as well as some new releases on the way.