03/27/2020
China's film regulators has slammed the brakes on plans to gradually reopen the country's cinemas.
Over 600 movie theaters across China were given the green light to reopen their doors over the past week, but Beijing's Film Bureau put out a notice late Friday ordering all theaters to go back into shutdown.
No official explanation for the sudden reversal was provided. Industry insiders instantly began speculating that the government was worried about a potential second wave of coronavirus infections.
The decision comes as a shock given the signals authorities had been sending as recently as a day ago. On Thursday, Shanghai's municipal government
announced that 205 of the city's movie theaters had received permission to resume business on Saturday. Earlier in the week, China Film Group, the dominant state-backed distributor,
unveiled a plan to let cinemas rerelease past blockbusters to help lure customers back into seats. The scheme was to entail both local hits, such as
Wolf Warrior 2 and
The Wandering Earth, and Hollywood-made product, such as the full
Avengers franchise and last year's Oscar best picture winner,
Green Book.
The phased reopening of China's vast network of 70,000 movie screens had promised a rare bright spot on the global distribution map, given that cinemas are shuttered in virtually every other major market around the globe, including North America, Europe, Japan and elsewhere. Beijing's decision to reclose — or stay closed — was met with dismay by stakeholders throughout the Chinese industry.
"This second closure will not be a one- or two-week issue," an executive at a major exhibition company told
The Hollywood Reporter, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of commenting on government policy related to the coronavirus. "They are going to be even more cautious when they attempt to reopen again — and this will set us back a long time."
www.hollywoodreporter.com
