The implementation, on July 21, of the health pass, which attests to a complete vaccination or a negative test in places of leisure and culture that accommodate more than 50 people, destabilizes the cinema. Attendance in theaters fell by 42.4%, to 2.2 million spectators, between the week of July 14 to 21 and that of July 21 to 28, assures Eric Marti, general manager of Comscore, world number one of the box office measurement and analysis. The National Cinema Center (CNC) estimates the drop in attendance at 56% compared to the same week in 2019. “It’s a very strong brake, especially since attendance had returned to its normal level since June 30”, notice Mr. Marti.
Taking the median result for the equivalent week between 2015 and 2019, the market falls by exactly 50%, specifies this expert. Multiplexes saw their attendance plummet, according to this same criterion, by 59%, while small establishments with fewer than five screens stemmed the decline to 30%. “The multiplexes are not always in the city center and, if you have to take your car to get there, no one has taken the risk of breaking their noses and being turned away”, emphasizes Eric Marti.
“The market is held back”
Some films have suffered more than others. The worst result comes down to Fast and Furious 9, by Justin Lin, who lost 80% of his audience in week two. Black Widow, by Cate Shortland, Cruella, by Craig Gillespie, The Croods 2: a new era, by Joel Crowford, also unscrewed, but not so much, whileAnnette, by Leos Carax, and Benedetta, by Paul Verhoeven, have limited the breakage. And the Palme d’Or in Cannes, Titanium, Julia Ducournau, who could have hoped for a rebound of 20% indoors, saw his audience melt by 35%. In contrast, Kaamelott, by Alexandre Astier, got off to a good start with 1 million spectators, according to its distributor SND.
“The market is slowed down but not stopped for all that”, assures Eric Marti. “If the most anticipated big films are not deprogrammed, like OSS 117: Red alert in black Africa, by Nicolas Bedos, Baby Boss 2: A family affair, by Tom McGrath, BAC North, by Cédric Jimenez, or even Eiffel, by Martin Bourboulon, it will be possible to return to a normal market at the end of August He hopes.
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