China: Theater reopens after two months, but nobody shows up
For the past two months, Chinese cinema halls have remained virtually deserted, with more and more people ditching outings amid the catastrophic coronavirus outbreak. However, thinking that the situation has improved, one theater in China's Xinjiang region attempted to reopen, but here's the catch — literally no one came to watch any show. China, the epicenter of the outbreak, is worst-hit from the virus.
The cinema in China's Urumqi reopened on Monday
The Zhongying Golden Palm Cinema in Urumqi, the capital of China's northwestern Xinjiang region tried reopening on Monday for the first time since late January, when cinemas were shut owing to the rising coronavirus cases. It announced as many as 22 screenings, including shows of Chinese titles such as Liberation, My People My Country, Sheep Without a Shepherd, and Spycies.
The cinema even offered members to watch shows for free
In fact, the cinema even offered its members to come along with their children and watch the shows for free, while non-members were asked to pay only a nominal fee of RMB 10 ($1.4 or Rs. 105). And even as there have been no fresh cases of coronavirus in the region for 27 consecutive days, people evidently did not want to take any risk.
"Can't stay closed forever"
Furthermore, the Golden Palm decided to reopen only after receiving notices of approval from both the local government and the local propaganda bureau. Ding, the in-charge of operations at the cinema, observed that they "can't stay closed forever." "We can only cooperate with notices, and test the situation a bit, and see what feedback we get from the public," he added.
But the cinema is losing more money by running empty
Ding further informed Variety that nearly five more cinemas were making attempts to reopen. However, he also pointed out the fact that by running without any viewers, his cinema is losing a lot more money than it would if it remained closed. "If there are no new films, it makes no difference if we are open or not," he explained.
Chinese movie business down by almost $2 billion
The coronavirus pandemic, that has killed over 3,200 in China, continues to puncture the nation's movie business. Cinemas in China closed down in late January, also resulting in postponement of countless movie releases. In fact, the Chinese box-office witnessed a drop of almost $2 billion in the first two months of this year, compared to the same period last year, according to Comscore.
