China Goes Back To The Movies After Coronavirus Lockdown
In China, Robert Downey Jr.’s family film Dolittle and Sony’s thriller Bloodshot were the first films to debut this weekend, following the coronavirus lockdown. The country began reopening cinemas in regions considered low risk for COVID-19 on Monday. By Sunday, 4,900 cinemas, accounting for roughly 44% of the country’s total, had reopened. Allowed to operate at 30% capacity, theaters must facilitate social distancing between filmgoers.
Dolittle, from Universal, topped the box office this weekend with a $4.71 million three-day debut. Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot, came in second place with $2.61 million. Sheep Without a Shepherd, a local film, came in third with $2 million. Re-releases of the Disney films Coco and Zootopia, which grossed $740,000 and $290,000, came in fourth and fifth place, while Will Smith’s The Pursuit of Happyiness from 2006 came in sixth with $220,000.
The total nationwide weekend box office was $12.6 million. The results exceed the box office results of late March, when moviegoers were apprehensive about going out. At that time, officials allowed around 500 theaters — 5% of China’s total — to re-open in low-risk regions. Soon after, they were unexpectedly closed down again.
Now, exhibitors are reporting a rapid turnaround thanks to a single-day box office of $428,000. Despite the positive results, it is still a far cry from December and January, amounting to just 16% of December’s average weekend box office and 25% of January’s average weekend box office.
Beijing was allowed to re-open its cinemas on Friday before the opening weekend, six months after initially shutting down due to COVID-19. Meanwhile, in the northeastern port city of Dalian, cinemas were shuttered Thursday following a surge of coronavirus cases there. IMAX cinemas re-opened on Friday. As of Sunday, 369 of its more than 700 screens were up and running. The company expects another 600 theaters to be reopened by mid-August.
IMAX China has announced losses of up to $36 million in the first half of the year, yet they expect to slowly recover. In China, Dolittle earned $535,000 from 266 IMAX screens, 11% of its national weekend gross, while Bloodshot earned $210,000 from 228 IMAX screens, 7% of its national weekend gross.
Upcoming China premieres and rereleases include Sonic the Hedgehog, Jojo Rabbit, Big Hero 6, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, and France’s Mia and the White Lion on July 31; Interstellar on Aug. 2; Ford vs. Ferrari and 1917 on August 7; Bad Boys for Life on Aug. 14; and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 3D on August 14.
Source: Variety
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