Audiences Stay Away from Movie Theaters During Coronavirus Pandemic
by EG
Americans seem to realize that going to a crowded movier theater in the middle of a pandemic isn't a good idea. That's made news for theater owners and movie studios. The result is that the past weekend was the worst in terms of ticket sales since 2000. More Americans went to the movies a few days after 9/11 than did this week. In many countries, movie theaters have been ordered to close, and a similar lockdown may be on the way for the US, too. Read on for details.
Disney and Pixar's Onward provided a sobering case study over the weekend of the dramatic slowdown in moviegoing across the world, as more cinemas shuttered across various international markets amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In North America, the family animated film fell 73 percent to an estimated $10.5 million, the biggest second-weekend decline in Pixar's storied history (The Good Dinosaur fell 59 percent in its second weekend in 2015). Internationally, Onward's second-weekend gross from 47 markets was $6.8 million, a 76 percent dip. Through Sunday, Onward has earned $60.3 million domestically and $41.4 million overseas since its release.
Overall weekend revenue in North America hit at least a 20-year low ($55.3 million), according to Comscore. Similar stats for the international box office weren't immediately available, as in an unprecedented turn of events, more than 55 of the world's 75 or so moviegoing markets are being impacted by the virus.
As of early Sunday, all cinemas were closed in 32 international markets, including China, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Ireland. There were partial closures in another 15 markets, including the U.K., according to one international executive. Another dozen or so, including in the U.S., have reduced seating capacity in furtherance of "social distancing" and trying to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Hollywood studio distribution executives say the situation is changing by the hour everywhere, and that they expect widespread closures in other territories in the coming days — including in the U.S., which has more than 5,400 indoor movie theaters across the nation. Insiders at the National Association of Theatre Owners tell The Hollywood Reporter that theaters will abide by any orders from local and state authorities.
On Sunday night, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered all movie theaters, nightclubs, small theater houses and concert venues in the city to close starting Tuesday, an unprecedented move for one of the nation's biggest bustling cities. Not longer after, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a similar mandate.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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