“Aline” by and with Valérie Lemercier – Gaumont
The year 1984 was disastrous for the distribution of films, many of which were deprogrammed or delayed.
Between the available feature films and those to come ir, we are sure to attend a nice congestion when the rooms reopen.
Which movies can you expect in 2020? Difficult, if not almost impossible, to answer this question that we traditionally ask ourselves at the beginning of each year. There will undoubtedly be Aline by Valérie Lemercier, OSS 117: Red alert in black Africa by Nicolas Bedos,
Kaamelott – First part of Alexandre Astier which fans have dreamed of for fifteen years. But when ? And how? Difficult to answer.
Why is the reopening of theaters such a complex subject?
After a catastrophic year when the
theater attendance has dropped by 69%, the cinema community is anxiously awaiting the resumption. “The government wants to be sure that contaminations are permanently on the decline so as not to have to close overnight”, confided to 16 Minutes Nicolas Colle , journalist in charge of the analysis of the exploitation and the distribution for Full screen.
Because the logistics for the recovery are difficult to set up. Staff must be rehired or recalled to take care of theaters and it is necessary to manage the programming of films available in theaters throughout France. Distributors speak of at least fifteen days between the decision and the actual release. And are now counting on the course of February, but without any certainty either on the date or on the conditions of the recovery. “The winter holidays could be a good period to attract spectators to the cinema, if the sanitary conditions allow it”, explains Nicolas Colle.
How many hundreds of films could be released in 2021?
And films, there are a lot of them… “It is impossible to say how many exactly. Nicolas Colle. But knowing that it leaves an average of fifteen films per week in France, and that we are at thirty weeks of closure, the calculation is simple… ”More than three hundred films have already piled up on the shelves of distributors. And that without counting the sacrifices released barely more than a week and broke in full success, like Goodbye idiots
by Albert Dupontel, or those who only went out for one day as DNA from Maïween or Rag boy by Nicolas Maury… and who intend to return. “It is clear that it will be difficult to absorb all these outings because the public will not be able to see everything”, sighs Nicolas Colle. Added to all this are the new features planned for the start of the year. On the side of French films alone, it’s already the scramble with Aline , OSS 69 , Les Tuche 3 …
And the American side? ” We can think that Wonder Woman 1984 by Patty Jenkins will be released as soon as the cinemas reopen ”, predicts Nicolas Colle. The film, which was to be distributed in France on December, was released jointly in theaters and streaming on HBO Max at United States. It will suffer from the piracy to which many French fans have already engaged. “It is a real concern, affirms Nicolas Colle and the authorities should take more action on this phenomenon which is a real scourge. »Illegal downloading constitutes a huge shortfall for distributors who risk no longer wanting to release their films on the big screen, at the risk of wasting time and even more money.