• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 11 hours ago

The movie industry thought they were in the clear -- from tariff land. But maybe not.

The Trump Administration now says too many U.S. filmmakers are all over the world -- getting tax breaks from many countries -- to make movies.

They don’t like it, and they are starting up a 100% tariff on films produced in part or entirely outside the U.S. The Trump Administration wants movies to be made in San Francisco, not Singapore.

But what does this do to a hard-pressed movie industry struggling to get back to its pre-pandemic business level? What do you think?

Movie executives must rolling their eyes, thinking they have been slowly building back to business since that disastrous spring of 2020 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic -- the beginning of widespread theatrical closings for the better part of that entire year.

This was all compounded by the rise of a competitive premium streaming business.

But that does not mean U.S.-based movie studios should be put on the same plane as those based in China, Vietnam or India, sending low-priced products to the U.S. Nor are they on the same level as thriving technology companies like Apple that manufacture iPhones overseas.

The movie industry has been fragile -- both for movie studios and movie theater owners who have been under attack from all kinds of entertainment options giving an entertainment consumer lots of choice.

Right now, movies are priced around $10 to $15 a ticket -- and  movie studio executives and movie theater owners say that is a bargain.

But what if the price goes up to $15 to $20? What happens then?

Those crazy prices will come when movie studios need to spend much more to make films.

The average cost of making a feature film is between $100 million and $150 million. The broader range is between $80 million and more than $200 million to produce.

Top-level summer movie productions are between $150 million and $200 million in production costs -- so these movies may then not get made. It is also possible that new franchise editions of films like “Avengers,” “Avatar,” “Star Wars” or “John Wick” won't get made.

Big movies like the very expensive “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” to be released on May 23 were shot all over the world, which is one of the key selling points for consumers.

And what of the premium streaming platforms -- many of those sister companies to those U.S. movie production studios? Those big titles then would not be used to pull in consumers to re-up their streaming subscriptions.

For the movie industry, how much more is impossible now?