The first box office HIT post the lockdowns has come in South Korea as local horror film ALIVE grossed around $9 million in the first week (nine days). South Korea did not see a complete shutdown like other countries but faced regional lockdowns. It means that cinemas were always open though very few in some parts of the country but business only picked up in the last few weeks due to new content.

First there was INNOCENCE which had some numbers and has grossed $5.5 million in 23 days and this film ALIVE which took the box office to a new high in the Coronavirus era.

There is also good news from France as the opening of cinemas has seen a good response. The first week back saw collections of around $6 million on all releases which is pretty good as 650,000 tickets were sold despite these testing times. The normal week in France in 2020 pre-Covid was around $20 million and so its 70% down.

But that is still very good considering the fear a 3 month lockdown brings and on top there was no Hollywood big film which is a driver of box office in France.

The big challenge is for cinemas to open in USA which would mean new content for cinemas around the world but with the Covid 19 situation in USA not going down, the plans are being pushed forward. The biggest multiplex chain AMC had expected most of its cinemas to open by mid July but know they are hoping for around 400-500 sites to open by end July.