Several cinema chains across Europe are closing their doors for the time being as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, some of Spain’s largest theater chains such as Cinesa, Golem, Kinépolis, and Yelmo shut down Friday, March 13, after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a state of emergency for Spain as a result of COVID-19. Spain has more than 4200 confirmed cases with 120 deaths as of Friday.
[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true”]
The French government tightened event regulations Friday with a ban on all gatherings of more than 100 people. The French Cinemas Association said theaters will remain open but viewings will not exceed 100 people, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Italy’s government enacted similar measures before the country’s quarantine was put into place. The country’s box office numbers saw a decrease of more than 60% as a result.
Germany’s government has not enacted a country-wide policy like France at this time but some of its individual municipalities have shut down their respective theaters. This includes places like Bielefeld, Bonn, Kassel, and Stuttgart.
European countries that have shut down theaters country-wide include Italy and Poland for now. Those theaters have been shut down for at least two weeks, according to THR. Denmark, Norway and Greece have followed suit and shut down their theaters for two weeks as well.
[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/13/how-coronavirus-delays-are-impacting-2020-movies-ign-now”]
The European box office is expected to take a hit with theaters closing en masse like this due to COVID-19. Elsewhere, movies like Mulan and The New Mutants have been delayed as a result of the crisis. No Time to Die was also delayed.
The movie industry isn’t the only entertainment industry affected by the virus. Theme parks like Disneyland, Disney World, Disneyland Paris and Universal Studios Hollywood have closed its gates for now and one of the world’s largest gaming conferences, E3, was cancelled too.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
Source: IGN.com Cinema Chains Across Europe Shut Down Due to Coronavirus