Chinese tycoon Wang Jianlin’s cinema empire feels the pain as theatres remain closed due to coronavirus fears
- Wanda Group owns Wanda Film Holding, the top theatre chain in China, and controls AMC Entertainment Holdings, the largest in the US
- The pandemic is punishing others including New York billionaire Charles Cohen as well as Russia’s Alexander Mamut
A semblance of normal life is slowly returning to China. People are heading to work, visiting malls, and even shopping at the wet markets that were among the places where coronavirus was first identified. But one gathering place remains closed: the cinema.
With cinemas closed worldwide, it’s an early and ominous sign of the difficulties the industry will face even after the lockdowns lift. An enclosed space accommodating hundreds of patrons is ill-suited to the social-distancing requirements that are likely to remain in place for months.
US box-office sales are expected to plummet 96 per cent in the second quarter, according to Boxoffice Pro, a period that typically heralds the start of summer blockbusters. That follows a 23 per cent decline in receipts in the first three months of 2020, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
On Wednesday, Wanda Film reported a preliminary first-quarter loss of 550 million yuan to 650 million yuan (US$92 million), compared with a profit of 400 million yuan a year earlier. It attributed the results to the shuttering of all cinemas because of the virus. AMC furloughed employees and cut pay for top executives to conserve cash. It closed all venues indefinitely in mid-March.
