Coronavirus vs Cinema: The Impact The Coronavirus has had over the Global Film Industry

by R. Martin | Mar 4, 2020 | Entertainment, Movies, Op-Ed

On Monday 24, 2020, it was announced that Mission Impossible 7 had halted productions over the Coronavirus outbreak. Production for the film was set to take place over three weeks in Venice. After the reported accounts of the Coronavirus case in northern Italy, the production of the movie was placed on hold.

“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew, and efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings in response to the threat of coronavirus, we are altering the production plan for our three-week shoot in Venice, the scheduled first leg of an extensive production for Mission: Impossible 7,” a spokesperson for Paramount, the studio behind the “Mission” franchise, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. “During this hiatus, we want to be mindful of the concerns of the crew and are allowing them to return home until production starts. We will continue to monitor this situation, and work alongside health and government officials as it evolves.”

The Mission Impossible 7 hiatus is one of the highest-profile cases of the impact the Coronavirus is having on Hollywood; however, it is not the most significant. One of the markets that suffered the most, do to the Coronavirus is the Chinese film industry. Globally China is viewed as the world’s second-largest territory in terms of box-office, where any movie can make its money back. Chinese companies also fund different film projects, which is why a lot of newer movies tend to lean more towards a Chinese audience. Chinese New Year is viewed as one of the most important weeks of the Chinese film industry. However, due to the Coronavirus and the increasing death toll, many guarantee blockbusters were delayed days before their release. Recently the Sonic The Hedgehog Movie Chinese release date was postponed until a TBA date. Other delays that were announced were Disney’s Mulan Chinese release date been delayed indefinitely, and MGM also canceled the Chinese premiere of No Time to Die.

The financial impact the Coronavirus is having can not be underestimated, according to box-office data company Comscore box-office receipts in China in January and February totaled only $238 million, a significant downturn from the $2.148 billion revenue during the same period in 2019, and $2.378 billion in 2018. Box office revenue for the whole of 2019 was a record $9.2 billion, having risen 5.4%. A significant downturn such as this can not be taken lightly because it shows just how financially unstable to cinema market is in China, and how it could affect international movies who try find new life in the Chinese market.

Recently, The Berlin Film Festival also felt the impact of the Coronavirus as days before leading up to the event more than 118 cancellations from people attending either the festival. Director Jia Zhangke spoke in an interview with Indiewire the directors gives an inside look at the impact that the virus is having on movies moving forward. During the interview, Jia had this to say, “For some film companies and studios involved in pre-production, a lot of costs are going down the drain, and those that already started production have to be somehow cut short or suspended,” Jia said. “Some of them are already in the process of distributing films and they’ve paid for a lot of promotion and PR costs. The economy is now taking a huge hit, and I think the investment side will be hugely impacted as well.”

The Coronavirus has already spread to other countries, with more than 230 cases reportedly effect in Italy. As a direct response, to control the spread, the Italian Government has announced that their northern areas Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli Venezia-Giulia and Emilia Romagna will shut down all public events, this includes closing all schools, museums, concert halls and cinemas. According to ANEC, the National Association of Cinema Retailers, an estimated 850 cinemas or 1,830 screens, which represent 45 percent and 48 percent of the country’s total, respectively, have been closed in response to the outbreak. Week by week, the Italian box office has taken significant hits with a total gross from February 27 to March 1 was €2m ($2.2m) compared to €8.3m ($9.23m) for the first weekend of March 2019, according to Cinetel. Overall Italies’ box-office has dropped 75% since the Coronavirus outbreak reached the country.

In Japan, the Japanese government issued a directive urging the cancellation or postponement for at least two weeks of sporting events and other public gatherings. The closures are meant to protect the children, who are out of school for spring break, from exposure to the coronavirus. Shochiku, a Japanese studio, distributor, and theater operator, started offering refunds for advanced ticket viewers. Toho, an operator of the nation’s largest chain of theater, also made refunds available to customers last Friday.

South Korea, on the other hand, hasn’t necessarily canceled all filming, nor shows. Instead, producers have taken steps to minimalize exposure to the virus. A live press conference for the Korean Netflix series My Holo Love, starring Yoon Hyun-min and Ko Sung-hee, was canceled. Instead, the cast attended an online conference, answering questions the press sent in advance. CGV, South Korea’s largest theater chain, has shut down all nine of its venues in the southern city of Daegu, the country’s fourth-largest urban center, where nearly two-thirds of the confirmed infections have been reported.

In February, revenue in South Korea slid nearly 70 percent. According to KOBIS, the country’s national box office service, ticket sales for last month totaled KRW 62 billion ($52 million) from 7.3 million admissions, compared to KRW 189 billion ($158 million) from 22.3 million admissions over the same period last year.

“The situation now is much worse than what we’ve seen during the outbreak of [Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus] MERS in 2015,” said an official at the Korea Film Commission. “The audience dropped to more than 40 percent then, but there was no such thing as theater closures and the market revived after about a month. That’s not going to be the case with coronavirus. It’s very unusual to see a daily admission fall below 100,000. But that is happening now, and the outlook is unpredictable.”

Middle Eastern audiences have also chosen to stay away from theater admits the sudden outbreak of the virus. Outside of Italy, U.K has yet to reach the same number of coronavirus cases. Until the numbers increase, the U.K government will not make any drastic closures that will affect the film industry. However, it is estimated that the Global Film industry is set to lose $5 billion in revenue over the coronavirus.

Ever since the initial outbreak, the Coronavirus has had a massive impact on the global market. While it is not clear how long the virus will last, the effects are already being felt. With an estimated loss of $5 billion, it will be interesting to see where we are by the beginning of the summer.