Cinemas in China were given the green light to start gradually resuming operations from Monday after a six-month closure triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, but only 8 per cent reopened, with the remaining unable to do so for reasons including staff shortages, incomplete cleaning and being located outside low-risk areas. Mainland media reported that the 178-day suspension caused local industry losses of 30 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion), with over 2,200 cinemas going out of business during the pandemic period. Of the roughly 10,000 cinemas still operating on the mainland, 835 cinemas reopened on Monday, racking up 3.6 million yuan total box office across more than 10,000 screenings, according to Alibaba’s online ticketing platform Taopiaopiao (Alibaba also owns the Post ). The box office champion of the day was Xinjiang art-house film A First Farewell , one of two new films opening Monday, racking up 1.56 million yuan in ticket sales. Since the China Film Administration’s July 16 announcement that cinemas in low-risk areas could start reopening from July 20, cinemas and film distributors have been scrambling to prepare theatres to welcome visitors. Wu Feiyue, co-founder of A First Farewell producer Elemeet, says they have been working overtime over the past week to produce publicity materials and make other preparations. “We have to make sure the film can be sent to cinemas across China in time. We also made posters and other materials with a ‘welcome back’ theme, as for people who love movies it’s a reunion with cinemas after a long separation.” It’s a good time to release A First Farewell , Wu adds, as they want to avoid clashing with the release of any big blockbusters that would dominate ticket sales. “We had been looking for a proper time to screen the movie. We cannot estimate how many cinemas will [eventually] reopen … but A First Farewell also touches on the theme of separation, so it is suitable for it to herald the reopening of cinemas.” Directed by Xinjiang filmmaker Wang Lina and in the ethnic Uygur language, A First Farewell is about a Xinjiang child from a goat-herding family and his separation from his mother and friend due to sudden changes in circumstances. The movie won the best film gong in the children’s film section at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival, as well as the Firebird Award for the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language) at the 2019 Hong Kong film festival and the Asian Future Best Film Award at the Tokyo film festival. Elemeet live-streamed ticket sales for the film on July 18 to drum up interest, selling 20,000 tickets within the first five minutes of the stream. With many measures in place to prevent the resurgence of Covid-19 in cinemas, film distributors are avoiding releasing blockbuster films now as limitations on seat capacity will reduce their earnings. As well as seating capacity capped at 30 per cent, other measures include no food or drinks sales, no ticket counter sales, film run times cannot exceed two hours and seats must be left vacant between individual viewers. The other new film released on Monday was Bright Torch , a documentary on intangible heritage. All other movies showing are reruns, including Chinese animated adventure film Nezha and action movie Wolf Warrior 2 . While new release dates have yet to be set for the seven big blockbuster Chinese films whose launches were scrapped following the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan in January, several lower-budget movies announced their China release dates after the ban on cinemas was lifted. They include mainland movies Love You Forever (August 25) and Wild Grass (August 25), as well as Hollywood films Dolittle (July 24) and Bloodshot (July 24). Taopiaopiao was the first platform to relaunch online sales, selling the first ticket on July 17 at 5.40pm for a Nezha screening at Heping cinema in Chengdu. The cinema told local media it priced tickets for the film at 3.1 yuan. “We sold all the 165 tickets on offer on July 17,” it said. “For each ticket, we can only profit 0.1 yuan as 3 yuan has to be given as surcharge to online ticketing platforms. So we only gain revenue of 16.5 yuan [US$2.40] on the first day of sales. But all our staff are very happy as the audience didn’t abandon us. We are contacting the lucky viewer who bought the first ticket so that we can give him a superb gift package.” Many cinemas forced to close due to the Covid-19 outbreak had to diversity their business to survive. Heping Cinema started selling eggs in June to recoup some losses. Outside of golden screening periods like long holidays or big movie screenings, our usual attendance [before the Covid-19 outbreak] was only around 20 per cent A cinema worker in Beijing’s Dawanglu area Some 13,000 film companies lost their business registrations in China after the country’s movie industry was shut down in late January, according to a CGTN report that cites the state-run Securities Times. The first cinema to welcome back visitors was Zhejiang Oscar Cinema World, which screened A First Farewell at 12am on July 20. All 32 tickets for the screening were sold. Viewers arrived at the theatre early to take pictures for the historic moment. While first-tier cities including Shanghai and Shenzhen have reopened their cinemas, none of the cinemas in Beijing have resumed business. A staff member at Hoyts Cinema in Beijing’s Jiulongshan area says cinemas in the capital won’t reopen until August. A cinema worker in Beijing’s Dawanglu area says they need more time to rehire staff lost during the pandemic. “All the facilities like electrical wiring also have to be checked before our reopening,” she adds. She says more cinemas will reopen when release dates for blockbuster films are announced as such movies bring in bigger audiences. Seating capacity limits won’t have a major effect on her cinema, she says, as it already struggled to attract large audiences. “Outside of golden screening periods like long holidays or big movie screenings, our usual attendance [before the Covid-19 outbreak] was only around 20 per cent,” she says. Meanwhile, the first mainland film festival to be held after the pandemic, the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival, whose original June scheduling was cancelled, will run from July 25 to August 2. Other upcoming film festivals include the 14th First International Film Festival, which will be held from July 26 to August 3 in Xining, Qinghai, and the 10th Beijing International Film Festival, which will be held in the second half of August after its April launched was cancelled. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook