Following the announcement through the Chinese Film Administration of the reopening of cinemas on July 20, several questions have arisen about what China considers a low- or high-risk COVID-19 zone. Several industry resources told us today that most of the country’s exhibitors can reopen, with the exception of Beijing and its five fast markets, as the newly shown COVID-19 instances remain the best in 226.
While there is a no-matter that reopening in China will be slow, according to one source, this is not the case: primary circuits like Wanda will open next week. In addition, even Shanghai cinemas that do not participate in the film festival can also reopen.
Why is the reopening of cinemas in China much faster than in the United States, where there is a delay between the approval of a state/county government and the reopening of a multiplex? While there are lately about 1.5K 5k movie theaters open in the United States, this number is about to decline this weekend due to recent epidemics in the United States, not to mention that about three hundred movie theaters are still the weekend box office.
“There has been a lot of preparation and discussion over the last month and each of the channels has worked hard. As it might seem to us, there is a central authority in China that says when cinemas can reopen. Here, it comes from local governments,” says Rich Gelfond, CEO of Imax Corporation, about the uniform set of exhibition criteria in China. Early in the day, Imax China announced a new decade of partnership with Wanda Film, which will see the channel modernize the large format exhibitor sites existing in major cities and install the generation in ten new sites.
As we reported yesterday, the films will be released in stages in China, starting with titles from old long-term catalogues so that theaters can exercise and become familiar with the new security protocols. This font will be moved to the Hollywood portfolio of 2019-2020 titles such as 1917, Jojo Rabbit, Bad Boys for Life, Sonic, etc., a national holiday in the Middle Kingdom. We will have a broader concept of the precise implementation of titles in the coming days or before.
With the reopening of theaters, can you open Warner Bros. ‘Tenet or Disney’s Mulan in China, the United States?
It’s too early to tell, but there’s no doubt that these films will move to China without Beijing.
Some of the COVID-19 security resolutions issued for the Middle Kingdom are presented with situations such as the non-sale of concessions, the consistent nature of all members of the public and mask clothing throughout the transmission. Here, in the states that dictate masked dresses, viewers regularly wear them in the lobby, but once they are in place, remove them while consuming their concessions. Another attractive resolution in China: cinemas can’t make e-books with any movie with a functionality time of more than 2 hours. The auditoriums must have a capacity of less than 30%, with a distance of one meter between each spectator. Cinemas will supply masks, gloves and disinfectants to all workers and participants, and, of course, a rigorous cleaning regime with “at least twice a day disinfecting public spaces such as the lobby, theatres, bathrooms and corridors.” Disinfection at least five times consistent with the day for the price locker, finishing machine, public chairs and key toilet areas. Disinfection after each consultation for materials has direct contact with the public, adding siege arms, three-dimensional glasses and epidemic prevention waste treated separately at the end of the day, according to a translated document. Term received.
“With the closure of cinemas around the world, China also needs to show that it has controlled the wonder virus more than anyone else so that it can be the first to open its theaters, even if it is selectively and conscientiously controlled.” The approval of the Shanghai International Film Festival, although without foreigners not founded in China, is another example of being the first to return to some kind of normality. Assuming it works, they deserve a smart foreign press policy on This gives China a relatively smart look, especially since Hong Kong is now experiencing its “third wave” of viral infections, and also shows that democratic Taiwan, which has been the subject of a wonderful positive exposure and is even listed as very rich. ”country” in the opposite fight against the virus, is not the only smart fortune style to repel the virus among Chinese communities,” says USC professor Stanley Rosen.
However, exhibitors in the Middle Kingdom still touch wood, especially since there is still no vaccine. When China attempted to reopen cinemas in late March, they temporarily closed their doors as cases of COVID-19 higher in foreign visitors. Now, with a majority of regions such as Shanghai (29 new coVID-19 instances starting July 13), Liaoning (12), Sichuan (9), Guangdong (8), Tianjin (5), Hebei (4), Shaanxi (4) and Gansu (3) under control, it turns out that there is a greater sense of hope on the horizon.
Gelfond said: “We closed in China before Chinese New Year and are waiting for the government to say it should return to the corridors. This is a vital step for us. If you look at other countries that have reopened, the Public welcomes a pass back to cinemas when it’s Array. We saw it in Paris, France, last week, and in South Korea last weekend, as well as in Japan. When the rooms reopen, it’s not as if the coronavirus never existed. But I think other people need to leave their homes, pass videos and do social activities. I think this is a vital step in supporting the country to a safe point of normalcy.”