TENET AND THE EIGHT HUNDRED’S SUCCESS ADDS EXCITEMENT AMONG THE TRADE!

When the Coronavirus pandemic began to rapidly spread across the world in the beginning of 2020, a lot of films got postponed to next year or 2020-end. The belief was that even if cinemas reopen, it’ll be suicidal to release a film this year. This is because audiences might not turn up due to the fear of contracting the virus. Also, they argued that with just 50% occupancy allowed in cinemas as part of social distancing measures, the collections won’t be enough to recover costs. However, the success of some films across the globe has made it clear that films can succeed despite all these Covid-related limitations.

The first country to evoke hope was South Korea. We had discussed a couple of months ago that the thriller Alive has done very well in its first week. In its lifetime it managed to earn $13.4 million (Rs. 98.05 crore approx). Then July saw the release of Peninsula, a sequel to the worldwide 2016 hit Train To Busan. It has earned $32.4 million (Rs. 237.08 crore approx.), which is double of its budget. The reports however are mixed and it won’t collect as much as the first part - $98.5 million. But it has managed to do business that is double of its costs and moreover, it is still running well in many countries across the world. Lastly, Deliver Us from Evil, which released on August 5, is also running successfully, having earned $24.1 million.

Meanwhile, in Spain, a film called Padre No Hay Mas Que Uno 2 (Father There Is Only One 2) surprised one and all. It is the sequel to a hit film called Padre No Hay Mas Que Uno, released in 2019. Believe it or not, it did better than the first part despite releasing in lesser cinemas than part 1 and having restricted occupancy in theatres!

But it’s China that took the cake. A film called The Eight Hundred had a thunderous start and went on to become a huge grosser. It was released on August 21 and collected a huge $116 million in 3 days. As of August 30, it has amassed $277 million, which totals to Rs. 2026 crore approx.! It remains to be seen if it can break the record of Avengers: Endgame which had collected $614 million (Rs. 4492 crore approx.). Even if it doesn’t, the job is done for the film.

And last but not the least, the much awaited Tenet released in Canada and international markets on August 26. The trade had expected it to collect $25-30 million in the weekend but it has managed to earn $53 million. In South Korea, it has collected $4,359,632 (Rs. 31.90 crore approx.) in 5 days. In most major territories like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, etc, it has exceeded expectations. It releases in the USA today, that is September 3, while tomorrow, September 4, it’ll release in China. The collections are now expected to increase a lot once that happens. The reports, though a bit mixed, are mostly encouraging and that’ll further help the collections.

All these instances have proved that there’s a huge pent up demand to watch films. It also shows audiences are ready to come back to cinema halls if there’s an exciting film running. Yes, the collections in all countries, except China, aren’t record breaking due to fewer people in a screen at a time. But, it is believed that sooner or later, the films will manage to make up for it if it has merit.

It now remains to be seen when theatres start in India. The decision to keep cinemas shut as part of Unlock 4 guidelines have led to frustration among exhibitors. But there’s still hope that the government will allow them to resume operations by September-end. And if that happens, Tenet will be the first release in the country.

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.

SOUTH KOREAN FILM ALIVE EMERGES AS A HIT; GIVES HOPE TO REST OF THE WORLD!

There has been no new release across the world since 3-4 months thanks to the Coronavirus induced lockdown. The Hollywood has been itching to get back to it’s feet and as reported last week, 4 films planned to release in the month of July – Unhinged on July 10, The Broken Hearts Gallery on July 17, Mulan on July 24 and Tenet on July 31. Unfortunately, due to the rising cases in USA, all these films were shifted ahead. As per the new schedule, Unhinged now arrives on July 31 followed by The Broken Hearts Gallery on August 7, Tenet on August 12 and Mulan on August 21.

However, there’s one place where the cases have dropped considerably and where many activities have resumed, including going to cinemas. This country is South Korea and it was a surprise to know that last week, on June 24, a film called Alive released in cinemas. It was very well received and surprisingly, managed to get 5 million footfalls in just five days! It has done a business of $5,475,383 (Rs. 4.13 crore approx) till now.

Many experts had predicted that moviegoers would not go to see a film till the time a vaccine is not found. Hence, it’s interesting and even heartening to see that despite the Coronavirus scare still looming large in the world, people have thronged to cinemas in Korea. Theatres in fact never got shut in South Korea ever! What also helps is that the country got very less Coronavirus cases. As of Wednesday July 1, it had just 12,850 cases and mere 282 deaths. On an average, it gets only 40-50 cases a day. The other major markets of the world like USA, UK, India etc still suffer from a large number of new cases daily. China is another major market but it hasn’t given go-ahead for theatres to resume operations.

On the other hand, there have been several other countries that have opened up cinemas like Japan (was also kept open like South Korea, but theatres had shut down for 2-3 weeks in April), Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Germany and Poland. In most of these regions, social distancing is heavily enforced and hence, a limited number of people are allowed per screen. And all of them are playing old films. Yet, it’s heartening to know that week by week, the footfalls are seeing a gradual increase. Hong Kong saw a 71% increase, Taiwan 35%, New Zealand 17%, Australia 17%, UAE 16% increase in footfalls as compared to last weekend. The box office income in these regions is meagre but it’s a good start. And once new films release in July end, it’s sure to earn more and also by then more markets would have opened.

Even as theatres have yet to open, Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi, Ranveer Singh's '83 announced as Diwali and Christmas offerings respectively; Reliance Entertainment CEO discusses how festival releases are a possibility
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; July 1, 2020)

At the outset, the makers of Sooryavanshi and '83 had stated that the films would not bypass a theatrical release even as a cloud of uncertainty hung over the reopening of cinemas due to Coronavirus outbreak. Now, Reliance Entertainment has announced that the Akshay Kumar-led cop caper and Ranveer Singh-fronted sports drama will hit the screens on Diwali and Christmas 2020 respectively. The announcement comes at a time when theatres in India are a long way from throwing their doors open.

"We are committed to releasing the two films in theatres first. We are hoping that the situation will be normal in the next five months. If things are not under control by then, we will take a call at the time. As and when the government and exhibitors open cinema halls, the films will release," asserts Shibasish Sarkar, chief executive officer, Reliance Entertainment group. While Sooryavanshi was originally slated for a Gudi Padwa release, Kabir Khan's 1983 cricket World Cup drama was to hit screens on April 10.

Considering international markets are crucial to the success of such big-ticket ventures, Sarkar is happy to note that cinemas across the world are opening, albeit gradually. "For Hindi films, North America and the Middle East account for 70 to 75 per cent of the [overseas] business. While New Zealand, Fiji and the Gulf countries have opened up, Canada and some European countries are expected to follow suit. The situation in the US has aggravated in the past 10 days, but five months down the line, I am hoping that the countries will be active."

While exhibitors are apprehensive that footfalls may be drastically low when theatres reopen, Sarkar believes that the charm of the big screen will lure the audience.

He argues, "Alive, which released in South Korea this week, has witnessed one million footfalls so far." Sarkar indicates that the practice of re-releasing popular Bollywood films to attract audiences may be replicated in India. "If exhibitors want any of our films for a re-release, we will provide it to them."