"Me alive, Canal + will never release films at three months": the rant of Richard Patry

LE FIGARO: The first week of reopening of cinemas ended with

Richard PATRY. -

After seven months of closure, we knew from the messages sent to us by the public that the French were eager to return to see films on the big screen. But 2.26 million admissions, it is objectively much more than what we expected. Many young people have come, this is proof that they are attached to the venue. The possibility now of using the cultural pass in the cinema for 800,000 eighteen-year-olds will support this enthusiasm.

But above all I want to say a big thank you to the spectators. With this extraordinary cover, they sent a very important message to the whole world: the movie theater is not dead. Quite the contrary. I am very confident for the future. On screens, the great diversity of films will continue. Iexpect a lot of

Florian Zeller's

with Anthony Hopkins released Wednesday then

Chloé Zhao's

with Frances McDormand. American films are returning timidly, it is a chance for the many good French and European films programmed in the coming weeks. The first Hollywood blockbusters will arrive in early July with

then

. We will move on immediately with two French blockbusters:

and

. Suffice to say that summer should be very beautiful. At the start of the school year, it will continue with a host of films including

by Martin Bourboulon on August 25.

To read also:

,

,

… The films to see or to avoid this week at the cinema

With the takeover of MGM by Amazon

James Bond

without the movie theater, he's a little cop like Derrick. 007 was born on the big screen, never its producers, including Barbara Broccoli, will never let it go on the Amazon platform without going through the cinema box. It would be stupid of Amazon to shoot the value of 007 by not releasing it on the big screen. We can see that the films released on the platforms have a reputation of a few days, afterwards no one talks about them. Releasing directly to a platform has nothing to do with the creation of economic, artistic and media value that you get through theaters. The

franchise

on Disney + would never have existed without the triumph of the first

on the big screen.

James Bond without a movie theater, he's a little cop like Derrick.

Richard patry

The management of Canal + said in the columns of

Maxime Saada, chairman of the board of Canal +, waves the red rag in front of us and he has clearly crossed the line.

Me alive, Canal + will never release films at three months.

It is a dangerous provocation given the stakes.

He is in his role, we are in the midst of negotiations on the media chronology with the platforms.

But it is all discussed together around a table.

It's not Maxime Saada against the rest of the world.

Canal + plays a primordial role in the French seventh art.

It is thanks to Canal that new generations of authors and directors have been able to shoot.

Me alive, Canal + will never release films at three months.

Richard patry

Now, this preponderant role also gives him responsibilities. He can't say to other people, "

." There, he wants to suck our spectators and therefore crush the cinemas. These platforms can be lucky if they bring in the money to produce more films and ever more diverse works. If not, it is better to stay with the status quo with the current system. I repeat: it is impossible for Canal + to stick to the window reserved for theaters.