France, cinemas have reopened

Text by: RFI Follow

Since this Monday June 22 in the morning, even midnight for the most daring, cinemas have reopened in France. The 2,000 French theaters had closed on March 14, even before the announcement of the general confinement.

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Since this Monday, June 22, theaters have once again welcomed the public, with new sanitary rules provided by the National Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF) in a guide. Another measure: "  There is no longer a 50 % limitation of gauge  " for cinemas and shows, said the Minister of Culture Franck Riester Sunday, even if this measure remained widely applied Monday morning in theaters . 

On the bill, films released just before confinement, works of heritage, but also some novelties. The feminist comedy The Good Wife , the portrait of the man behind the general is De Gaulle or even the Tunisian drama Un Fils … These films, whose momentum was shattered by the coronavirus pandemic, are once again in theaters. Distributors preferred to bet on theatrical receipts rather than opting for video on demand. 

► Read also: Between cinema and VoD, cinema at the time of the coronavirus

From this week, exhibitors can also count on news, such as the German film Benni or the documentary on The Great Green Wall of the Sahel. However, film professionals do not expect a return to normal before mid-August. 

Aside from Warner, which is finally programming the long-awaited Tenet , by Christopher Nolan, on July 31, the American studios are still waiting to see how the public will behave before releasing their blockbusters. Wonder Woman will not be released until this fall, and it is not known when Disney will schedule the release of its new version of Mulan , given the upsurge in the epidemic in China. 

Nearly 400 million euros in losses

There will therefore be mainly independent French or foreign films in theaters this summer. The congestion will be less there with seven new products per week on average. What may have the virtuous effect of slowing down the rotation of films, the most fragile often having only a week to seduce the spectators. 

According to an estimate by the FNCF, the crisis and the cessation of activity between the beginning of March and the end of June represent a loss of almost 400 million euros for all cinema operators.

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