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Movie audience show their tickets in a cinema in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, July 20, 2020. Taking various measures against COVID-19, cinemas in the city reopened in an orderly manner on Monday. The China Film Administration, in a circular last week, allowed cinemas in low-risk areas to resume operation with effective epidemic prevention measures in place. [Photo/Xinhua] Box office receipts broke 3 million yuan ($429,300）and 129,100
tickets were issued by Monday evening — the day cinemas in most parts of
the Chinese mainland reopened — ending six months of closure due to the
outbreak of COVID-19, Securities Daily reported on Tuesday. The box office performed within expectations at the first day of the
reopening of cinemas, said Securities Daily, citing Shi Yedong, a senior
industry insider. Currently, the main audience is die-hard fans and
film practitioners, Shi added. So far, 43 films have been scheduled for release, mainly older films. The moviegoers are mainly in first- and second-tier cities, who are
more concerned about what's on the screen when they watch films at the
cinema, an industry insider said to Securities Daily. Due to a shortage
of new releases and most re-releases being available online, audiences
have little incentive to go to the cinema at the moment. The overall domestic box office during August to September will be 20
percent to 30 percent of the same period in previous years due to
attendance limitations for the COVID-19 prevention and control and the
absence of quality films. But as the Chinese National Day holiday
approaches and the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control measures are
optimized, attendance is expected to return to the same levels of past
years. Moreover, the backlog of high-quality films from the first half
of the year will pile up, and the film sector is expected to usher in a
consumption boom, according to a report from brokerage Hua'an
Securities.
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