Can a train run for a long time without a locomotive?
This is what cinema exhibitors are increasingly asking themselves when they see American films, which usually attract the most spectators to their theaters, being deprogrammed over the weeks.
All because Hollywood studios, which need global releases to amortize their expensive blockbusters, want to wait for American and British cinemas, almost all closed due to the pandemic, to reopen to launch their films.
Retail review.
New postponements
After “Mulan”, which was to be released in April, and which will ultimately be posted directly on the Disney + platform, three other American machines have just rescheduled their releases.
Friday, Universal announced that the new James Bond, "Die can wait", originally planned in April, then failed to November 11, would finally be released on March 31, 2021.
Tuesday, it was Warner who dragged Denis Villeneuve's “Dune” from December 2020 to October 2021. Wednesday morning, Universal completely rocked “Jurassic World: The World After” to June 2022 (instead of spring 2021).
Other heavyweights of 2020 see themselves pushed back: “Black Widow” with Scarlett Johansson and “West Side Story” by Steven Spielberg at Disney, “Fast 9” at Universal, “Peter Rabbit 2”, “Ghostbusters: Legacy ”and“ Disconnected ”at Sony,“ The Batman ”with Robert Pattinson at Warner…
So, will we not see any American films in the coming months?
Yes. It is a question of "lifting to spread" the outputs, they say in a studio.
We should see "Trolls 2" on October 14 "and" The Croods 2 "on December 2," "Sacred Witches" by Robert Zemeckis with Anne Hathaway on November 18, "Wonder Woman 1984" on December 30, "The Good Criminal" with Liam Neeson on October 14, “Soul”, the new Disney / Pixar, on November 25, “Death on the Nile” by Kenneth Branagh on December 16… But these dates are to be taken in retrospect, because at the moment everything is changing every quarter of an hour.
Worried cinemas, disappointed spectators
Do these successive postponements endanger French cinemas?
In part: between the supply of films at half mast and the sanitary distancing measures in theaters, the drop in attendance reached 60%.
“It's a catastrophic situation,” explains Marc-Olivier Sebbag, general delegate of the National Federation of French Cinemas FNCF.
The theaters are open, the public is present, but the locomotive films are absent for reasons due to the health situation in the United States.
French cinemas are the victims of this situation… ”
They are not on the verge of suffocation, however, thanks to the 50 million aid allocated by the Ministry of Culture, and to the presence of many French films.
But some spectators are starting to get bored or even consider giving up their subscription cards.
Sacha, 60, a big fan of blockbusters or American independent films, admits his "discouragement": "I haven't seen anything good for a long time, and I only use my card once a week, against three. times before containment.
If this continues, I will ask myself the question of terminating my subscription ... "
Same disappointment for Willem, 39, who still wishes to stress that “the UGC network was very elegant, immediately interrupting withdrawals during the closing of the theaters, and offering three weeks of free admission.
"But that is not enough for this cinephile, subscriber since 2003, also a fan of American cinema:" There really isn't much, I only saw one film this summer, and in addition he there are more sessions at 10pm, my favorite time.
I will consider stopping my subscription.
"
A profitable situation for French films
The absence of American films nevertheless benefits the feature films produced here.
"Fortunately, French distributors have played along since the resumption," rejoices Marc-Olivier Sebbag.
Who points out that the weak American offer allows French films "to settle in our theaters over time ..." Indeed, with fewer releases each week, the
turnover
of films has slowed down, and has enabled feature films like "Erase the history ”, released on August 26, to gradually accumulate 500,000 admissions.
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Above all, the successive postponements of large American productions free up dates and screens for French films.
Like “Aline”, by Valérie Lemercier, a delirious unofficial biography of Celine Dion.
Initially scheduled for November 11, the film had postponed its release for a week when Universal failed "Die can wait" on the same date.
But the James Bond, again shifted, released more than 700 screens for the 11th. Gaumont announced Tuesday that “Aline” would finally be scheduled for that day.
And other French films will take advantage of this void: “Adieu les cons” by Albert Dupontel (October 21), “Kaamelot” by Alexandre Astier (November 25), “Les Tuche 4” (December 9) or even "OSS 117 Red alert in black Africa" (February 3) should, for lack of Hollywood competition, have a boulevard in front of them.