China’s Movie Theatres Are Closed—Again. for Studios, the Anxiety Is Unbearable1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn late March, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to ravage the global film industry, forcing theaters to shutter and grinding movie and television production to a halt, U.S. and Chinese studios and distributors received a surprise bit of good news: More than 500 cinemas in China, where COVID-19 was first detected, would reopen for the first time since January.
The positive news in China, the world’s second-largest box office and a crucial moneymaker for Hollywood movies, was short-lived. Days later, on 27 March, the country’s national film bureau ordered all cinemas to close once again. An uptick in coronavirus infections among travelers arriving in China from abroad sparked fears of a second wave.
Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment
