Cinema owners welcome Govt. move to reopen from 1 Jan. but concerns persist

• Say although Colombo will open, uncertain if smaller operators will resume with high costs, capacity restrictions
• Plan to discuss with Ministries of Cultural Affairs, Health and National Film Corporation to increase viewer capacity to at least 50%
• Say difficult to predict footfall until 2 weeks of resumption
• Upbeat on next year’s mega movie releases

By Charumini de Silva

Cinema owners yesterday welcomed the Government’s move to reopen from 1 January, but requested an increase in the number of viewers whilst conforming to COVID-19 health guidelines.

“We are extremely pleased with the decision taken by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to reopen cinemas,” industry stakeholders told the Daily FT.

After a careful deliberation with artistes, including film producers, directors and members of the Film Association, the Prime Minister in his capacity as the Cultural Affairs Minister permitted the reopening of cinemas with 35% to 25% of the seating capacity under strict new health protocols from 1 January. However, cinemas in isolated areas will remain closed.

The film industry has been negatively impacted due to the pandemic, as both production and releases have stopped completely.

Although the majority of cinemas in Colombo will be open to the public, industry sources said that they were not very confident about theatres in the outskirts as owners were in extreme financial distress due to closure for several months.

“Most theatres in the outskirts are run as family businesses. Operating expenses such as electricity bills, rent, maintenance charges and other administrative costs are being borne by the industry at present. There is hardly any new content to show. The small and medium-sized segment will definitely look at their return on investment (ROI) to resume under strict capacity directives,” they said.

At present there are over 200 cinema halls in the country.

Industry stakeholders also said that they were planning to further discuss with officials of the Cultural Affairs Ministry, Health Ministry and National Film Corporation (NFC) to request an increase in the current patrons’ capacity to at least 50%.

Sources said that the directive issued by the Cultural Affairs Ministry only allowed 25% of the full seating capacity for screening locally-produced films and 35% for imported movies. 

“It is important that we speak to the authorities on the economic viability of 25% to 35% seating capacity,” they pointed out.

When asked how confident they were on footfall at cinemas, the industry stakeholders said the success of the initiative could only be determined by the content.

“We are in a dilemma. There is so much red tape we have to undergo before releasing a movie and with the immediate impact on footfall at cinemas at the initial stage of COVID-19, it is very tough to predict the situation. We will only be able to feel the pulse of our patrons at least after a week or two post-COVID operations,” they added.

With some exciting upcoming Hollywood, Bollywood and Kollywood movies to be released next year, the film industry stakeholders said they were excited.

“We have been deprived for most of this year, but slowly and steadily by meeting COVID-19 health guidelines theatres will open. We hope the Government will consider our request to increase footfall. There is nothing that comes close to the experience of watching movies where they belong — in the theatres. We have our fingers crossed!” they said.