What future for films canceled or postponed with the coronavirus?

• Many films have been canceled or canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic.
• French law prohibits the premature release of films whose exploitation has been stopped on VOD.
• Producers, distributors and cinema operators have sometimes divergent interests.

With the programming linked to the fear of the coronavirus epidemic, then to the closure of all cinemas since Saturday midnight, many films will remain on the shelf, even if it means putting their distributors in a difficult situation, especially the most fragile of them.

The films most impacted by the closing of theaters are of course the releases of March 11: #LaBonneEpouse (171K entries) #Radioactive (37K entries) #UnFils (around 21K entries) # UneSirèneAParis (18K entries) #Vivarium (16K entries )…

The Good Wife of Martin Provost was on the verge of becoming a commercial success when the cinemas were closed. Alexandre Mallet-Guy, managing director of Memento , recorded 171,000 admissions on Saturday evening. He could legitimately imagine that the film exceeded one million spectators and he already plans to bring it out when the rooms are reopened. "We will have to recreate the envy of the public at that time, hoping that it has not passed into this digital world where everything is going so fast," he sighs.

I am the producer of #UnFils by Mehdi Barsaoui released on Wednesday 11 and in the context, I am for the opening of the VOD while waiting for the reopening of theaters. All these efforts, to be seen only 4 days ... it's too frustrating.

“Little Films” at Risk

For a released, the "small films" canceled or postponed know that they will probably not have priority when the rooms reopen. Some distributors see the future in black. "If cinema exhibitors have the choice between James Bond and a less promising feature film, guess what they are going to want to project", asks a distributor who wishes to remain anonymous. Fragile films will have trouble finding their way back to theaters if they are already occupied by large productions that have been awaited or scheduled for a long time.

VOD, a solution?

In the United States, some large studios like Universal have chosen to offer some recent VOD titles right now.

On Friday anyone who hasn't seen #invisibleman or #thehunt will be able to see them at home. World Tour ',' Invisible Man '& More Available At Home As Movie Theaters Shutdown: Coronavirus - Deadline https://t.co/EGqOdR1X0u

Producer Jason Blum announced it on Twitter: Invisible Man will be available as of Friday for $ 20. It is expensive, certainly, but not so expensive if people watch it with family or friends. Trolls 2 , The Hunt or Birds of Prey can also be seen in this way. In France, a distribution of films whose exploitation was stopped prematurely is not conceivable, because that would not respect the chronology of the media.

For the moment, we cannot do it in France for inexplicable reasons! https://t.co/hkISbsquDR

Towards a change in the law?

“I am for the opening of VOD while waiting for the reopening of theaters. All these efforts, to be seen only 4 days… it's too frustrating, ”wrote Marc Irmer, producer of Un fils de Mehdi Barsaoui, in a tweet. Like others, he dreams of changing the law, but it is not on the agenda. Even if influential personalities like Jean Labadie du Pacte, who distributed among others Les Misérables , seem to call for their wishes. The risk would be to weaken rooms already damaged by circumstances ...

Increased competition

In the meantime, there remains the solution to sacrifice the exploitation of the film in theaters and to release it directly on VOD. "Hoping that it does not find itself drowned in the offer of streaming platforms," ​​whispers a distributor. Vladimir Kokh of KMBO, who was due to release Filles de joie this Wednesday, remains on the sidelines. "We will adapt to find new release dates," he said. For the moment, the watchword is to see the news and act calmly in function. Whatever decisions are made, competition, already tough, will be further strengthened.

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• Covid 19
• Cinema
• Coronavirus
• Containment
• Cinema outings