Movie theater owners are seeking relief for the shutdown of thousands of screens during the coronavirus crisis. The National Association of Theatre Owners unveiled a set of measures that they want lawmakers to take up as part of a stimulus package, now being discussed by Congress. The theaters are seeking loan guarantees to ease a
Breaking News
We are hearing from U.S. industry sources as well as those on the ground in the PRC that the offices of China Film Group in Shanghai and those of China’s Film Bureau are re-opened for business, a sign that the country’s exhibition is on its way to a gradual recovery after being shuttered since the
With Hollywood under orders to stay out of the office, away from theaters, off the set and especially at a safe social distance from those most germ-friendly of mass gatherings — film festivals — coronavirus suddenly has clarified a change that crept over movie culture in the decades just past. As recently as the late 1980s,
Includes charts of the 2020 domestic box office standings to date, as well as final charts for the weekend of March 13-15 and Monday “For all intents and purposes, the industry is shut down” screamed one studio boss tonight about the state of exhibition, “What’s left that’s open?” With Cinemark shutting down tomorrow, the last
No surprise here, but Lionsgate has just undated horror pic Antebellum, the Sarah Paulson thriller Run and the Chris Rock-Samuel L. Jackson Saw chapter Spiral. The pics will remain undated for the time being as Lionsgate evaluates the next steps, dates and strategies for bringing the titles back once the nation’s exhibition infrastructure is back on track amid coronavirus fears.
Cinemark is joining the other major U.S. exhibition circuits in shutting its doors in the face of the growing coronavirus pandemic. The chain said Tuesday it is closing all 345 of its U.S. theater effective Wednesday. “Through these absolutely unprecedented and evolving times, one thing will not change, and that is Cinemark’s dedication to its
In the wake of the two biggest movie chains, AMC and Regal, shutting down for possibly close to two months, Disney reports today that their prized summer starter, Marvel’s Black Widow, is delayed until further notice. The Scarlett Johansson movie was scheduled to go day and date on May 1. This doesn’t come as surprise, and was
BREAKING: The largest theatrical exhibition company in the United States announced tonight that effective tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, all 630 AMC locations in the country will close for at least six to 12 weeks, in compliance with local, state and federal directives, and as a precaution to help ensure the health and safety of moviegoers
Landmark Theatres said Monday that it is shutting down all locations for precautionary reasons in the wake of the current coronavirus outbreak. In a statement obtained by Deadline, Landmark said, “All Landmark Theatres are temporarily closed as of Midnight tonight. This decision allows our staff to remain at home during this critical time. We will
EXCLUSIVE: In sign of what many are expecting is yet to come for all theaters in the U.S., Regal Cinemas is shutting down all their locations starting Tuesday, March 17 as a precaution amid the current circumstances. All theaters will remain closed until further notice. Regal, is the second-biggest chain in the U.S. with 7,155
Sony Pictures Classics’ bromance comedy The Climb, which made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year, will not be opening this coming weekend in New York or Los Angeles as both cities’ respective mayors Bill de Blasio and Eric Garcetti have ordered a shut down of cinemas, bars, nightclubs, entertainment venues and gyms.
UPDATE: As a preventative measure for the spread of coronavirus, Mayor Eric Garcetti took to Facebook Live to announce that he has now taken executive action to close all movie theaters, bars, nightclubs, entertainment venues and gyms until March 31. Restaurants will remain open but will only provide takeout and delivery. However, grocery stores, food
As expected the coronavirus pandemic is hitting the box office hard as many are under self-quarantine in an effort to flatten the curve. Some patrons are braving the outbreak, but as seen in preliminary box office numbers, it seems that many theaters are closing or limiting numbers while patrons are opting to stay home which
What we’re about to inform you about cannot be read into as an indication of long-term trends, or even short-term. The state of exhibition and the domestic box office is changing by the hour in the current coronavirus climate and by tomorrow or even before next Friday we could be looking at a different theatrical
All movie theaters in France will be closed from midnight tonight, we have learned. This is a new directive from the French government which yesterday had limited gatherings to no more than 100 people in public places. This evening’s measures were announced by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe as France passes to Stage 3 — the
We informed you prior this was a possibility and now Universal’s F9 is also shifting its May 22 global day and date release as the world becomes embattled by the coronavirus outbreak. F9 will now open on Easter weekend April 2, 2021. Universal had already reserved that date for Fast & Furious 10. The news was announced
Despite a handful of films postponing their release dates as a precautionary measure in the wake of the coronavirus, the specialty box office is persevering and hoping that arthouse audience will come through. Last week, A24’s First Cow delivered a career-high opening for Kelly Reichardt — but that was before the coronavirus turned into a pandemic.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced new measures to control the spread of the coronavirus with gatherings of more than 100 people forbidden for the foreseeable future. This is down from the previous 1,000 person limit and follows President Emmanuel Macron’s speech last night which stipulated that all schools and universities in the country
Updated: As the first big movie theater chain to publically address the coronavirus situation in the U.S., AMC Theatres announced today that they’re reducing capacity in each of their auditoriums by at least 50% starting tomorrow Saturday, March 14 and continuing until April 30, 2020. As the largest theater chain in the U.S., one would
We just got word that Regal Cinemas is the next biggest chain stateside to enforce a reduced auditorium capacity size of 50% where applicable and “with state mandates on social gatherings” says the exhibitor. AMC just recently announced a similar policy. Of the distribution bosses we’ve spoken to, we hear that they don’t expect any
With our world changing in real-time as America grips with the coronavirus outbreak, movie theaters across America stand as the last line of entertainment to remain open, as theme parks, sports games, and events close down for indefinite amounts of time. Sources tell me that it will come down to local governments in regards to
Telecharge, the service that bills itself as the official ticketing site for Broadway and Off Broadway, will automatically refund Broadway tickets purchased for performances between today and April 12. The tickets will be refunded back to purchasers’ credit cards. Rival service Ticketmaster posted notices on its website for some Broadway shows indicating that internet and
EXCLUSIVE: If exhibition couldn’t be further beaten down more today, Disney has just moved Mulan (March 27), 20th Century Studios/Marvel’s New Mutants (April 3) and Searchlight’s horror pic Antlers (April 17) off the release schedule. Disney says that it’s looking at potential 2020 dates in regards to where the titles would be scheduled next. This is a
Not just one Paramount movie is getting postponed this morning, but we heard that the studio’s April 3 action comedy The Lovebirds is also shifting following today’s big news that A Quiet Place Part II is not opening on Friday, March 20. Like a Quiet Place 2, Lovebirds’ release date is also unset. Movie theaters stateside haven’t even declared
EXCLUSIVE: I hear that Paramount Pictures’ A Quiet Place II is the latest movie to shift release dates in a bid to avoid the widespread disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. UK exhibitors were notified by this morning that the film is moving dates, and with cinemas shuttering across Europe as authorities impose restrictions on
If predicting box office openings wasn’t worse enough for the industry, the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. has studios and exhibition at the edge of their seats as concerns swell about how bad the impact might be. This weekend’s wide entries — Sony’s Vin Diesel movie Bloodshot, Lionsgate-Kingdom Story’s faith-based K.J. Apa movie I Still Believe
There may be a glimmer of hope —may being the operative word– in regards to China’s movie theaters re-opening after being shuttered since the Lunar New Year holiday over the COVID-19 outbreak. We hear from multiple sources, both industry and on-the-ground in the PRC, that China Film Group, the state-owned film enterprise that oversees theaters,
National Amusements, the Redstone family holding company, was placed on negative credit watch by ratings agency S&P Global after shares of ViacomCBS – which NAI uses as debt collateral – skidded so low over the past three weeks that the parent was in technical default on a bank loan. That’s a headache for NAI but
The Italian film industry was facing up to the worst box office session in its history this weekend, that was until the country’s government issued a decree shuttering all of its cinemas on Sunday (March 8) for almost a month, meaning it became something of a moot point. Box office was tracking 94% down on
Broadway producers are “cautiously optimistic” as attendance figures for last week show little, if any, immediate impact from the global coronavirus scare. Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League trade organization representing producers and theater owners, said in a conference call with reporters this afternoon that she was “even a bit surprised” with today’s