With a last screening no later than 6.30pm in large cities, the cinema is struck to the heart.
Retirees, students, young people and the unemployed who can go to the cinema in the afternoon will not be enough to make up the shortfall.
To read also: "Macron is killing the theaters", stupor and despair of the culture in the face of the curfew
"
It's a disaster when the public began to come to theaters again,
sighs Christine Beauchemin-Flot, co-president of the Scare union of art-house theaters and director of the Select south of Paris in Antony.
We must participate in the national effort but we take it as an injustice.
The cinemas have been exemplary since their reopening in June.
It may be a little naive to say that, but why, given the social, economic and human issues, has there not been any consultation?
"
Read also: Curfew: cinema operators worried about evening screenings
The curfew implies the disappearance of the evening sessions, the best.
According to a study by the CNC (National Cinema Center), 44% of admissions to the cinema are made from 7 p.m.
The curfew also involves the removal of previews and all events such as debates and meetings with filmmakers.
The cascading effect is immediate and spreads throughout the industry.
The condemnation of "
evening
"
films
The legitimately worried distributors and producers will remove films from theaters.
"
It is not a curfew, it is an extinguisher,
" writes angrily the society of film directors where Jacques Audiard and Valérie Donzelli sit among others.
The financial stakes are too high.
First targeted, the so-called “
evening
”
films
no longer have any chance of reaching a suitable box office.
Label Festival de Cannes 2020,
Peninsula
, the sequel to the living dead
from Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang Ho's
Last Train to Busan
, which was due out in six days in more than 500 theaters, could be postponed for two months until December 16.
Only family films like
Trolls 2
,
Poly
by Nicolas Vanier with François Cluzet and Julie Gayet just like
Calamity Jane,
which come out for the All Saints holidays and make their admissions in the afternoon, will remain on the bill.
In Bordeaux, which however is not affected by the curfew, Patrick Troudet, manager of the Utopia art house cinema, is on the alert.
“Thanks to our prefect Fabienne Buccio who took health measures three weeks ago, Bordeaux has corrected the situation and a little ahead of other metropolises
, he says.
I fear that in Paris, distributors and producers will be tempted to deprogram the releases of French films and in this case, all cinemas including those outside the curfew zone will be affected.
As audiences return to the movies and the holidays arrive, it would be a disaster.
If I don't have important films to show, even I would be forced to close and bet on short-time work.
Everything will depend on what will be decided for the four important French films expected by the end of November ”.
An exemption for the seventh art?
Goodbye
Albert Dupontel's
Cons is
due out next Wednesday, October 21.
Maïwenn's
DNA
is scheduled for October 28.
Aline
, Valérie Lemercier's tribute to Celine Dion is scheduled for November 11.
This blockbuster preceded by good word of mouth poses a double concern: it lasts two hours, which limits the number of screenings.
And above all, it cost 22 million euros, which is a lot.
And above all, the film is aimed at people aged four and over, those who go to the cinema at the 8 pm screening.
Finally,
Kaamelott
by Alexandre Astier (15 million euros) is scheduled for November 25.
To save at least one evening screening, and therefore encourage distributors and producers not to postpone their releases, the FNCF (National Federation of French Cinemas) has asked the public authorities for an exemption.
"
The idea is that 9 pm is the time for leaving the show and not for arriving at home,
" explains Marc-Olivier Sebbag, secretary general of the Federation.
In the event of a control, spectators can use their cinema tickets as a pass.
Everyone's decisions will be taken after negotiations with the government.
No doubt tomorrow, given the urgency.
Considering the multiplication of social plans, it is indeed unlikely that people will leave their work early to go to their homes at 6.30 p.m.
In Paris, the Parisian MK2 cinemas are trying a clever and funny move: they will open at eight in the morning.
Even in a capital like Paris, the effect will necessarily be limited.
Apart from some senior executives and the liberal professions, who can afford to arrive at the office by mid-morning?
