China’s box office braces for over US$4.2 billion in losses amid coronavirus shutdown
- Film authority chief says outbreak has delivered critical blow to the industry, and it will be forced to make changes
- Cinemas have been closed since late January and it’s not known when they will be allowed to reopen
Wang Xiaohui, vice-minister of the Communist Party’s propaganda department and head of the film administration, said the outbreak had delivered a critical blow to the industry.
“In the short term, the film industry suffered big economic losses as a result of cinemas closing and the halt to movie production and releases,” Wang said during a teleconference with film company representatives and industry officials on Wednesday, according to the state broadcaster’s film channel CCTV-6.
“In the medium to long term, the economic pressure will force the industry to change its patterns, its production and operation,” he said. “The pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis in the film industry and it’s also forcing the industry to reform and upgrade.”
Cinemas across China have been closed since late January, when the government confirmed the deadly new virus strain was being transmitted between humans.
The authorities have yet to say when cinemas will reopen, but Wang said Beijing was exploring ways to help the industry get through the difficult time. He urged the industry to make use of financial services and look for new investors.
“We need to give special support to cinemas, such as reducing or waiving rents, providing targeted loans and [subsidised] movie coupons,” Wang said.
China’s box office, the world’s second largest after the United States, and others around the world have been badly hit by the pandemic. According to London-based Gower Street Analytics, worldwide box office revenues could face losses of around US$10 billion as cinemas remain closed.
Revenues for the first three months of the year were already down US$4.7 billion on the first-quarter average for the past three years, according to the research firm, which works with box office tracker Comscore. It said a further US$5 billion was expected to be lost, based on another two months of closures and a rebooting of the market.
Last year, China’s film industry, the world’s fastest growing market, generated box office revenues of 64.2 billion yuan – up 5.4 per cent from a year earlier, despite the number of movie screens growing by 16 per cent.
