Odds Available on Which Studio Will Release First Coronavirus Movie

• Which film studio with be the first to release a film about the coronavirus?
• Do any of the studios have a reputation for making movies of this nature?
• Who’s the better pick between Warner Bros and Walt Disney Studios? Or is another studio a likelier bet?

If you’ve been… living in the world recently, you’ve been hearing contagion, contagion, contagion. And I don’t just mean the Steven Soderbergh film. Well, I sort of do.

We’re in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. (And by saying middle, I believe I’m being hopeful.) So, on the note of hope, I can only assume that the moment our world’s lockdown from COVID-19 settles and the dust begins to clear, the entertainment industry will start picking up its gear, roaring with a rush to make the dang movie. Question is: which studio’s going to worm its way there first?

Movie Studio to Release First Coronavirus Movie

If precedent sets any kind of pattern to follow, we can track the reputations of the big six mentioned in our tabled props.

Let’s begin with Disney. I’ll just start by saying, errrbody on Twitter can calm the tweet down about “Tangled” — it was not a premonition about the coronavirus. Secondly, Disney isn’t really known for diseased tales, unless they’re à la charming but dementia-ridden fish searching for Nemo. It has, however, done a rapid-fire push with home video content as far as its theatrical releases were supposed to go. So, its frenzied conduct just might serve as an indication that it’ll be willing to hop on the viral bandwagon when productions green-light again.

Walt Disney Studios commissary, pre-social distancing pic.twitter.com/395QkjSzLO

— cartoonbrew.com – Animation News (@cartoonbrew) March 24, 2020

While Paramount Pictures already had a few shiver-inducing pics on its shelf, John Krasinski just gave us another sound reason the studio could be in the running. We’re still shuddering from the notion that noise itself could be our enemy. I mean, come on… if they hear you, they hunt you? Go ahead, try to make literally no sound for ten seconds straight. Anyone’s own heartbeat freaking them out?

“IN ORDER FOR US TO BE TOGETHER, FOR NOW WE MUST REMAIN APART.” ~ Paramount Theatre, Austin, Texas pic.twitter.com/hlAjWazoxJ

— SaldañaAustinTX (@SaldanaAustinTX) March 18, 2020

Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group seems to still be blustering about its theatrical releases and has only recently (finally) decided to distribute its Vin Diesel-starring “Bloodshot” via home viewing platforms. So, let’s just swing our attention on over to —

This is a studio that’s had no time to die until now.

— MGM Studios. This is a studio that’s had no time to die until now. OK, maybe that’s a bit of a hyperbole, but I couldn’t resist the pun. MGM’s about the classics. Its reputation rests on the back of a man named Bond. James Bond. And while that will always trigger momentousness in our minds, it (along with Eon and Universal Pictures) has moved the release date of the next in their lynchpin series from April to Thanksgiving.

📷 MGM Studios – March 30th 1933, Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw, Marion Davies, Louis B. Mayer, Clark Gable and George Hearst (son of William Randolph) gather for a  luncheon in honor of Irish Playwright Mr. Shaw. 2 years prior… https://t.co/p6r96w2Cdt

— Chaplin For The Ages (@chaplinforages) March 22, 2020

Before the outbreak, Universal Studios was slated to theatrically unleash its two quite sinister-style films – “The Invisible Man” and “The Hunt” – one of which is a thriller, the other a mystery-sci-fi. Instead, they were one of the first studios to push their content in the direction of home video. But they’re just not positioned as the front-runner for the enterprise we’d expect to get this type of film out first. They’ve got Jurassic under their belt and we’ll forever laud them for it, but let’s leave it at that for now.

Warner Bros. pushes back #WonderWoman1984's release date to August 14

(via @Variety) pic.twitter.com/4tnmITsbj7

— ScreenTime (@screentime) March 24, 2020

Now, how about Warner Bros.? Soderberg’s 10-year-old film, “Contagion”, isn’t just climbing the charts in most-watched films, it even has director Berry Jenkins quoted in The New York Times to have admitted spending $12.99 on its rental. Now, that in these times is unprecedented. That said, Warner has also pushed its DC antihero flick, “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” towards digital purchase for March 24. ‘Cause Bros ain’t got no time to wait for their emancipation proclamation.

So, really, we’ve got two picture horses nearing neck-and-neck here. The ever-adaptive behemoth that is Disney and – the likelier of the two – Warner Bros. Now, we just wait and see… whatever’s on Netflix, I guess.

Pick: Warner Bros.