With a still timid restart after a hundred days of closure, French cinema operators are worried about the summer months with few planned releases, especially on the side of American films.
About 1.1 million spectators went to the cinema in France between June 22, the date of the reopening of theaters, and June 30, according to Comscore, which notes admissions to France.
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A result "very encouraging" , for the director of Comscore Éric Marti, when the films on display were mostly already released in March.
This is the case of The Good Wife of Martin Provost, big box office winner. It gathered nearly 170,000 spectators for this first week, or as much as in four days in March, "a rather very honorable score" , according to the film distributor Alexandre Mallet-Guy.
"What really reassured us was the spectators' desire to go to the cinema," says the general delegate of the National Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF), Marc-Olivier Sebbag, who notes that in comparison, "Germany, Italy and Spain are having a hard time restarting" , in particular due to a lower supply of national films.
"We are above the level we feared, at least at the average level we imagined, and therefore we are quite happy," he adds. Even if he specifies that the figures remain "below economic equilibrium" and "lower than in previous years" , in a week which usually coincides with the Fête du cinema.
Return of loyal spectators
It is the arthouse cinemas that are doing the best because the supply of films, in the absence of American blockbusters, corresponds more to this type of hall than to multiplexes.
"We really found our loyal, diligent spectators" , rejoices Christine Beauchemin-Flot, co-president of Scare (Union of cinemas of art, repertoire and essay) and director of Select in Antony (Hauts-de- Seine).
Her cinema garnered 1,971 admissions over a week - 20% less than last year - an "encouraging" result for her.
For some, however, the finding is more bitter, as for Olivier Aubry, director of Méliès in Bayeux, in Normandy. "It starts very badly," with only 220 admissions over the week in its three rooms (compared to 1000 last year), he said. "We don't have films and we are asked to work miracles . "
Because exhibitors share one observation: they lack films - mainly new ones - now and for the weeks to come. The planned American releases in July, Christopher Nolan's Disney Mulan and Tenet, were postponed to a minimum in mid-August, due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States.
“We are optimistic, because people want to come to the cinema, but when there is no material, there is no material. What is happening to us from the United States is complicated, ”analyzes Jocelyn Bouyssy, CEO of the CGR group, which has 73 complexes in France.
"We need films, more films," he says, while summer is traditionally the season of American blockbusters and popular films.
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For the moment, the operators are transferring their hopes to a few new French products, such as the Simply Black and Divorce Club comedies in July, or François Ozon's film, Summer 85.
But, emphasizes Jocelyn Bouyssy, “we will hope that there are more and more French distributors playing the game” by taking advantage of the free space for their films, like Terrible jungle with Catherine Deneuve and Vincent Dedienne , advanced to July 29.
"The shift of Tenet and Mulan leaves room for outings in early August" , but "the exercise is quite complicated" because the promotion of films stops during the summer, tempers Alexandre Mallet-Guy, who must come out Huge with Marina Foïs at the start of the school year.
Still, for some, like Olivier Aubry, fears are strong before a summer that could be "catastrophic", according to him.
"For me, July and August are going to be bad because we won't have any films ," he believes. How can private companies survive by working a quarter of the year? ”
