Film industry unable to screen out Sars' impact

Distributors postpone some Easter releases and cinemas cut shows as box office takings drop by up to 50 per cent

Distributors are taking films off the Easter release schedule, and some cinema circuits are cutting screenings as the atypical pneumonia outbreak increasingly takes it toll on the industry.

Cinema operators have reported an average drop in business of between 30 and 50 per cent since early last month, when the outbreak of severe acute respiratory system (Sars) was first reported.

Cinemas reported no appreciable impact in the first week of the outbreak, but takings have plunged up to 50 per cent in the past week. For some films, takings have been more than 70 per cent lower than the previous week. 'The decay is accelerating,' Bob Vallone, general manager of the UA cinema circuit, said.

In a bid to minimise its losses, UA has cancelled all of its midday and midnight screenings, leaving its cinemas with only four screenings per day.

'The fear factor and the government warning [to avoid crowded places] hasn't helped,' Mr Vallone said.

Of all the cinema circuits, Broadway has been hardest hit following the government's decision to close the Telford Garden shopping centre in Kowloon Bay, forcing the Broadway cinema to close. Telford Garden is near Amoy Gardens, the private housing estate at the centre of the Sars outbreak.