Cinemas: Open, but nothing to show

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2020

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Delays to Hollywood blockbusters are prompting a crisis in the cinema industry. Movie studios are putting their biggest releases on hold while the pandemic is still affecting audience numbers.

Mooky Greidinger, boss of cinema giant Cineworld, tells us why this has forced him to close all his screens in the UK and US. Shawn Robbins, senior analyst at BoxOffice Pro, explains why the global success of Christopher Nolan's Tenet wasn't enough to convince the studios to take the risk. And Penn Ketchum, founder of Penn Cinemas in the US state of Pennsylvania, describes the impact that's having on independent cinema operators.

Presented by Ed Butler.

(Photo: A reopened cinema in Wuhan, China. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi there, I'm Ed Butler. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC.
0:05.8	Today, the movie business Hollywood blockbusters held back from release. Cinema screens in peril.
0:12.5	No studio wants to risk all of their cash cows and come out of the gate and not be able to perform.
0:18.2	But we have to see significant efforts to bring major movies back to
0:21.9	theaters. Recovery has to start somewhere. Amidst COVID-19 is the future of the big picture experience,
0:28.8	really facing ruin. What I'm worried about is the theaters go through sort of this financial ruin.
0:36.0	I think that those smaller chains and independently owned theaters add a real value.
0:40.8	That's the part that I worry about going away in the future.
0:44.4	An unhappy ending for the movies?
0:46.3	Find out in Business Daily from the BBC. The past isn't dead.
1:05.1	Yep, well, he may be a fearless gun-toting, womanising super spy,
1:09.4	but clearly 007 knows when it's time tactically to withdraw from a ratings battle.
1:15.6	You can imagine why I've come back to play.
1:18.7	A flavour of the latest James Bond feature film there.
1:21.6	But recently we learned its release at cinemas was to be once again postponed,
1:26.9	as it was back in April. No time to die
1:29.2	won't be living or dying at the box office till 2021 we think. And it's not the only Hollywood
1:35.2	blockbuster release to be shelved as COVID restrictions limit theatre audiences worldwide. In fact,
1:41.8	it is starting to feel a bit like a vicious circle for the film industry.
1:45.6	Fewer showcase releases has meant fewer people attracted to cinemas, forcing some major cinema
1:51.4	chains like Sydney World to close its US Regal and UK theatres.
1:56.7	Muki Gridinga is Cineworld's chief executive.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.