China Closes 70,000 Movie Theaters Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

[Jim Cassedy]

China Shutters Nearly 70,000 Movie Theaters in Response to Coronavirus Outbreak

From "HOLLYWOOD REPORTER" https://tinyurl.com/uv6vzh9

China's 70,000 movie theaters — the most of any country in the world — are closing their curtains.
( Do Chinese theaters still actually have curtains? / Jim C)

The country's leading cinema chains — including Wanda, CGV, Bona, Lumiere Pavilions, Jinyi, Dadi and others
— publicly announced that they would be temporarily shutting down in response to the coronavirus epidemic that
has infected hundreds and gripped the nation.

On Thursday, China's leading films studios canceled their plans to release their biggest movies of the year during the
kickoff to the Lunar New Year holiday on Friday and Saturday. With no new product to offer and public health on the
minds of millions, theaters had little choice but to shut up shop. A smattering of screens were still open as of midday
Friday, local time, but most, if not all, were expected to close soon.

Chinese New Year is the biggest blockbuster period in the world by far, and the coming week had been projected to
enerate as much as $1 billion in ticket sales revenue. But as the coronavirus outbreak worsened throughout the week,
medical experts began warning the public against congregating in crowded places. By Thursday, chances were high
that cinemas would go empty even if studios were to hazard going forward with their original release engagements.

There is talk in the industry that the Lunar New Year slate might be rescheduled for later in the holiday — perhaps in
three to four days — if public health conditions improve. But with the number of confirmed cases of the virus continuing
to surge, optimism remains scarce.

As of Friday, more than 800 people had been infected by the virus globally, and 25 had died by it in China. Eight Chinese
cities near the center of the outbreak — home to tens of millions — have been put on lockdown.

Among the big-budget movies that had been set for release on Saturday were Wanda's comedy-action sequel Detective
Chinatown 3, Huanxi Media's comedy tentpole Lost in Russia, sports epic Leap, Jackie Chan's Vanguard, Dante Lam's
action flick The Rescue and family animation Boonie Bears: The Wild Life, among several others (local regulators have
always blocked Hollywood films from releasing during the festival period, giving local studios an uncontested run at the
box office).

Presales had already reached $67.5 million (RMB468 million) by Thursday morning, but studios and internet ticketing platforms
are now working to issue refunds. The U.S. releases of the Chinese New Year films also were suspended, including Warner
Bros.' sizable scheduled opening of Detective Chinatown 3.

Chinese studio Huanxi Media, meanwhile, unveiled a surprise plan to make its comedy tentpole Lost in Russia available for
free online. The company advised film fans to "stay safely at home and watch Lost in Russia with your mom."

[ END ]

> Actually, this isn't unprecedented. According to an excellent book I read last year titled "The Perils Of Moviegoing
In America, 1896-1950"- - Many cities in the USA closed their movie & legitimate theaters during the 1918 flu outbreak.
FYI- I highly recommend the above book, which is full of fascinating and well documented information. - Jim C

[Carsten Kurz]

This article in Hollywood reporter is dated 1/23/2020. Hence the reported numbers of infections and deaths are way outdated. Actual numbers are about 45.000 infected and 1.100 deaths.

- Carsten

[Bobby Henderson]

242 more deaths were recorded on Wednesday in China's Hubei province, the biggest daily rise since the Novel Coronavirius emerged. With different testing methods allowed another 14,840 cases were reported, including 1508 cases still confirmed using the slower RNA-based tests. That brings up the total of infected up to about 60,000 (with most being in China). This jump in numbers doesn't mean the virus is speeding up its infection rate. It just means previous infection numbers have been under-reported.

[Leo Enticknap]

Actually, this isn't unprecedented. According to an excellent book I read last year titled "The Perils Of Moviegoing
In America, 1896-1950," any cities in the USA closed their movie & legitimate theaters during the 1918 flu outbreak.

Immediately after the UK declared war against Germany on September 3, 1939, the government ordered all cinemas closed. However, the closure only lasted about two weeks, because no bombing took place (and nor would it for another six months), and the Cinema Exhibitors' Association - at that time, a trade pressure group that wielded a lot of political power, given the economic size of the film exhibition industry at the time - screamed blue murder and threatened to ban government propaganda films when they eventually were allowed to reopen. After that, filmgoing remained very popular throughout WWII throughout Europe, even, in some cases, when bombs were falling on cinemas full of customers.

A London cinema manager wrote a memoir, Red Roses Every Night ("Red Roses" was the government code word for a Luftwaffe bombing raid) about his experience of running a movie theater through the height of the Blitz. It's scary stuff. One interesting aspect is that the projectionists were almost all women, who had been hastily trained after their male predecessors were conscripted (drafted) into the armed services.

Another result of the coronavirus is that oil consumption has fallen dramatically, which, according to a breakfast talk radio show this morning, is why gas is down 15c a gallon at the station up the road from me.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Another result of the coronavirus is that oil consumption has fallen dramatically, which, according to a breakfast talk radio show this morning, is why gas is down 15c a gallon at the station up the road from me.

You may remember European gas prices, but one thing is pretty common: The trend is always up. Give it a few weeks and it will rebound back to slightly above were it was before the drop...

[Jim Cassedy]

> Several weeks ago I ordered some cheap electronics on e-bay that were being shipped from China. I got a notice today that due
to the Coronavirus situation, my package would be "delayed indefinitely", and was given the option of waiting or getting a refund.

[Leo Enticknap]

We're seeing longer lead times quoted for stuff from all over Asia, too. Some German research has apparently indicated that the bug can survive for up to 9 days on synthetic surfaces at room temperature (sorry - don't have a link - on talk radio while I was driving), which suggests to me that they might start "quarantining" air freight on arrival, too.

You may remember European gas prices, but one thing is pretty common: The trend is always up. Give it a few weeks and it will rebound back to slightly above were it was before the drop...

Annoyingly, that phenomenon has also become globalized. Back up to $3.49 a gallon at my local station this morning, from $3.35 on Wednesday.

[Bobby Henderson]

I filled up my pickup truck here in Lawton a couple days ago for $1.99 per gallon.

[Leo Enticknap]

Let's just say that Taxifornia does have certain reminders of my pre-emigration existence. In terms of pennies per mile driven, I'd suggest that the price of gas here is not far off that in the UK. The comparison is complicated, because the higher compression, lower cylinder size engines found in European cars are more fuel efficient, but the gas tax is higher (even than in California). Here, we pay slightly less tax on the gas (though the gap is diminishing year on year), but our cars are bigger and heavier, and their engines less fuel efficient.

Still, I feel a lot safer in my Honda HR-V here than I did in the last car I drove in the UK before emigrating (a 2001 Ford Fiesta), and would never want to go back to it, even though it did do in the high 30s of miles to a US gallon / mid 40s of a British one.

[Bobby Henderson]

Fuel taxes are pretty low in Oklahoma compared to other states. But there are downsides. We have over 600 miles of toll roads for instance. And the low fuel tax base yields some pretty terrible quality roads and bridges in many areas across the state. There's always a constant refrain from people wanting the toll gates removed off the toll roads ("since they're paid for"). Only 2 of Oklahoma's turnpikes turn any profit, the rest operate at a loss. New turnpikes are built with bonds and cross pledged against the revenue of the profitable turnpikes. The tolls are pretty low per mile compared to toll roads in Texas and elsewhere. The okies here don't realize if the OTA was abolished and toll gates removed we would probably end up with one hell of a fuel tax hike to deal with the maintenance burden of those toll roads.