We’ll see if it works better than last time, but theaters in China (allegedly, says The Hollywood Reporter) will reopen. The official start date is July 20, next Tuesday. Most of the cinemas in the world’s largest non-domestic market have been closed since January 23, just before what was intended to be a New Year’s vacation setting of more than $1 billion with a series of local hits to be released. The six months of closures have led many studies and exhibition corporations to serious monetary difficulties. However, theatres will not only not open at the same time, but there are also two warnings. First, concession sales will not be allowed. Second, the screened films will have to last less than two hours.
This first “take” makes sense, as it is difficult to eat popcorn and drink soft drinks if dressed in a face mask. To my own curiosity, I did some kind of delight last Monday. I turned off all the lights, turned up the volume (with headphones) as high as comfortable, put on a face mask and watched Interstellar on my HDTV. yes, I’m looking to technify the perception of watching a movie in theaters dressed in a mask. The bad news is that I missed the ability to eat and have a drink while watching Nolan’s 170-minute sci-fi melodrama. The smart news is that the maximum time (90% of the time) I didn’t notice the mask.
The “no concession” thing is going to be a problem. After all, film chains get most of their profits from exceptionally loved foods and beverages, to the point where you can say that the movies themselves are just promotional boxes for consumers to pay $6 for a soda and $9 for popcorn. Even if film networks in North America need to reopen, I don’t know if they can reconcile the variable “audience can safely watch movies if they wear a mask” with the variable complication “We have to sell snacks to make money.” Unless you keep the theaters closed until the “situation” improves, I don’t know how to solve it.
The restriction of the broadcast time is more arbitrary and potentially (film consistent with the film) more consequential. So I guess Chris Nolan’s 149-minute Tenet (allegedly) probably won’t open in China in the short term. Honestly, I’d like Warner Bros. Asked Nolan to cut off a 120-minute edition of his time-investing work just to see his reaction. And yes, it’s another from when George Lucas designed a cut of less than two hours of Star Wars Episode II: attack clones in particular for IMAX theaters at a time when IMAX scenarios could not involve longer films. This was months after the film’s release in May 2002 (and before Hollywood films won the normal IMAX treatment) and went to charity.
If it’s a slow and stable implementation, a change from 0 to hero in a short time, I can’t say. Theaters attempted to open in China in March to temporarily close due to considerations of new epidemics. I have no idea who will discover which spaces are classified as “low risk” or which variables will be used to make such a decision, however, I think we will get more data in the coming days, especially if it is planned. As expected, the mask will be mandatory with a limit of 30% on seats and a limit of 50% on schedules. All price ticket sales will be made digitally and in advance.
The first movies will be old movies, but unfortunately the 120-minute restriction does not mean reissues for Inception or Furious 7. There have been a number of recent releases in Hollywood in 2019, such as Little Women, 1917, Jojo Rabbit. and Marriage Story, which were approved for China but never made it to theaters. The same goes for the few big fans of 2020 such as Bad Boys For Life, Sonic the Hedgehog and (relatively speaking) Dolittle. Can Bad Boys For Life break into China enough to exponentially smoke its $419 million global time? Can Sonic the Hedgehog ($306 million) play as Pokémon Detective ($93 million in China last year) and spend $400 million worldwide? Can Dolittle save a little face in China?
Conversely, if China’s delayed box office hits make a noise comparable to how they played in January, how long will Bad Boys for Life be the biggest global hit of the year? Last year’s three most important New Year’s weekend releases, The Wandering Earth ($699 million in 2019), My Country, My People ($450 million) and The Captain ($416 million) surpassed $419 million in Bad Boys For Life. In 2018, Operation Red Sea ($579 million) and Detective Chinatown 2 ($544 million) flourished in China when Black Panther erupted in North America (and elsewhere). Needless to say, Detective Chinatown 3 and The Rescue flirted with finishes from $450 million to $550 million.
Assuming it’s going as planned (and the audience shows), the conundrum will be to balance backward Hollywood titles and late local titles with big Hollywood fans and Chinese box office hits still on the table. I can’t believe China will harm the proverbial Wolf Warrior 2 ($854 million in 2017) or Ne Zha ($720 million in 2019) so Jojo Rabbit or Sonic the Hedgehog can enjoy the sun. Unfortunately, due to this annoying requirement of 120 minutes or less, we would probably not see James Cameron’s Avatar (who earned $205 million in China in 2009/2010) to return to theaters to see and win the world crown at the Avengers box office. : End of the game (which brought $620 million in China last year in ten times more auditoriums).
I studied the film industry, academically and informally, and with a workplace analysis, for about 30 years. I’ve written a lot about everything
I studied the film industry, academically and informally, and with a workplace analysis, for about 30 years. I’ve written extensively on all these topics over the past 11 years. My points of sale for film reviews, work box reviews and movie bias scholarships have included The Huffington Post, Salon and Film Threat. Follow me on @ScottMendelson and like it on The Ticket Booth on Facebook.