The third wave of the pandemic gives no truce to Spanish cinemas. Last year closed with a global drop in box office revenues of over 72% and the situation has not improved during the first weeks of 2021. The new restrictions and the absence of both international and national premieres postponed by distributors, together with some Theaters practically empty of spectators with a capacity of 50%, have forced the main cinematographic exhibition chains -Cinesa, Yelmo, Ocine, MK2 and Kinépolis- to temporarily close most of their theaters throughout the country. These five chains represent, according to the Federation of Entities of Film Entrepreneurs of Spain (FECE), 55% of the market.
Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in ‘The Boy’, which is re-released in 4K for its centenary
With this unflattering outlook, this Friday only three films land on the billboard, and none can be considered a great novelty: the re-release in a restored 4K version of The boy by Chaplin for its centenary, the Norwegian documentary The painter and the thief, which caused a sensation at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, and, on the occasion of the success of the revival of Wishing to love (2000), the romantic drama by Wong Kar-Wai that has celebrated two decades of life in style, Avalon has decided to also re-release its spiritual sequel 2046, which hit theaters 17 years ago.
Still from ‘The painter and the thief’
“In all of Spain there are less than 40% of open cinemas and it is normal that with this perspective the distributors do not release more”, points out Pilar Sierra, director of the Gremi d’Empresaris de Cinemes de Catalunya. In his opinion, many cinemas that were open have had no choice but to temporarily lower the blind to be able to endure the desire to be able to open later “with more force.” And he believes that if the vaccination process is accelerated and the pandemic improves, “cinemas will open and distributors will decide to release.”
Many cinemas have had no choice but to temporarily lower the blind to be able to hold on with the desire to open later with more force
At the moment, it is the streaming platforms that monopolize the news, and this weekend they are starring two couples in crisis: Malcolm & Marie, with Zendaya and John David Washington, on Netflix, and Confined, with Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor on HBO.
Malcolm & Marie
According to data from the consulting firm Comscore provided at the beginning of the week, the percentage of open cinemas in Spain has gone from 44.5% to the current 39%. And most of them dispense with the sessions on Mondays and Tuesdays, days of less influx. Cinesa announced on January 11th the cessation of activity until February 18 in all its cinemas (39 in total, with about 500 screens) except the thirteen in Madrid, five in Barcelona, the Luxe Bonaire in Valencia and La Cañada de Malaga that are open from Wednesday to Sunday. For its part, Yelmo decided to temporarily close all its cinemas last week, with the exception of Madrid and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, for at least fifteen days, due to the pandemic.
Spectators at the Cinesa Diagonal in Barcelona
Obviously, viewer numbers have plummeted this past January. In Catalonia they are “between 80 and 90% below the same month of 2020. These are very low figures, but they are maintained”, points out Sierra, who acknowledges with admiration the “enormous effort” that film and film entrepreneurs are making. your workers.
“What there is is a very loyal audience that continues to come to the cinema every week. People go very calm and enjoy because the theaters are safe spaces.” The director of the Gremi emphasizes that despite the restrictions, they have felt “very accompanied by the aid of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat to face this situation economically, although we would need more.” “In other areas of Spain there are restrictions the same as in Catalonia or more and they do not have financial support.”
There is a very loyal audience that continues to come to the movies every week. People are very calm and enjoy because the rooms are safe spaces
Sierra points out the success of the reruns in theaters: “I have even seen queues, so all is not lost, far from it,” he says optimistically. “We are sure that the situation will recover long before the summer. Everything will roll with a certain normality, we will recover the Spanish film premieres and the blockbusters.” Although, at the moment, Hollywood is moving its powerful titles for the summer and fall months, Sierra believes that the releases may vary in date. “If they change to delay they can also do it to advance. We have to see day by day and week by week and forecasts cannot be made because the uncertainty is so great … we have to try to manage the moment and that is what they are making movie theaters in order to survive. “
We have to try to manage the moment and this is what movie theaters are doing in order to survive
Regarding the fact that digital platforms are gaining ground to the detriment of theatrical releases, he argues that “we ended 2019 with the highest box office results of the decade and we started 2020 10% above the previous year and platforms already existed. We have to trust that when the pandemic ends, cinemas will continue to be relevant. We have no doubt, what happens is that now we are one of the most affected sectors. “
When the pandemic ends, cinemas will continue to be relevant. We have no doubt
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