"Aline" by and with Valérie Lemercier -
Gaumont
The year 2020 has been a disaster for the distribution of films, many of which have been deprogrammed or delayed.
Between the feature films available and those to come, we are sure to witness a good congestion when the theaters reopen.
What films can we expect in 2021?
Difficult, if not almost impossible, to answer this question that we traditionally ask ourselves at the beginning of each year.
There will undoubtedly be
Aline
by Valérie Lemercier,
OSS 117: Red alert in black Africa
by Nicolas Bedos,
Kaamelott - First part
of Alexandre Astier which fans have dreamed of for fifteen years.
But when ?
And how?
Difficult to answer.
Why is the reopening of theaters such a complex subject?
After a catastrophic year in which cinema attendance fell by 69%, the cinema industry is anxiously awaiting the recovery.
"The government wants to be sure that contaminations are permanently on the decline so as not to have to close overnight," says
20 Minutes
Nicolas Colle, journalist in charge of analysis of exploitation and distribution for Ecran Total .
Because the logistics for the recovery are difficult to put in place.
Staff must be rehired or recalled to take care of theaters and it is necessary to manage the programming of films available in theaters throughout France.
Distributors speak of at least fifteen days between the decision and the actual release.
And are counting today on February, but without any certainty either on the date or on the conditions of the recovery.
"The winter holidays could be a good period to attract spectators to the cinema, if the sanitary conditions allow it", explains Nicolas Colle.
How many hundreds of films could be released in 2021?
And there are a lot of films… "It is impossible to say exactly how many," Nicolas Colle continues.
But knowing that it leaves an average of fifteen films per week in France, and that we are at thirty weeks of closure, the calculation is simple… ”More than three hundred films have already piled up on the shelves of distributors.
And that without counting the sacrifices left just over a week and mown in full success, like
Goodbye the idiots
of Albert Dupontel, or those who only came out for one day like
DNA
from Maïween or
Rag boy
from Nicolas Maury … And who intend to return.
"It is clear that it will be difficult to absorb all these outings because the public will not be able to see everything", sighs Nicolas Colle.
Added to all this are the new features planned for the start of the year.
On the side of French films alone, it is already the scramble with
Aline
,
OSS 117
,
Les Tuche 3 ...
And the American side?
“We can think that
Patty Jenkins'
Wonder Woman 1984
will be released as soon as theaters reopen,” predicts Nicolas Colle.
The film, which was due for distribution in France on December 16, was released jointly in theaters and streaming on HBO Max in the United States.
It will suffer from the piracy to which many French fans have already engaged.
“It is a real concern, affirms Nicolas Colle and the authorities should take more action on this phenomenon which is a real scourge.
Illegal downloading constitutes a huge shortfall for distributors who risk no longer wanting to release their films on the big screen, at the risk of wasting time and even more money.
Can the media timeline still save theaters?
Unlike the United States, France does not allow a work to be released simultaneously in the cinema and on other media.
The chronology of the French media imposes a three-year delay between theatrical distribution and the making available of a film on a platform or on television, unless you actively participate, as Canal + does, in financing films.
"American platforms are ready to invest in French cinema but they do not accept having to wait several years to dispose of the films they have produced", explains Nicolas Colle, who fears that certain independent distributors will be forced to sell works to platforms to get a financial breath of fresh air.
This was the case for
Peter Cattaneo's
Singing Club
broadcast on Canal + Première in December.
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Coronavirus: Cinema attendance in France fell by more than 69% in 2020 due to the health crisis
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