The huge sign has just been hung this week. Brand new, the Ciné Sologne, in Romorantin-Lanthenay (Loir-et-Cher), which has five rooms and 680 seats, has received the green light from the security commission. “Normally, with this sesame and the opening decree in stride, we are ready for the arrival of the first spectators”, explains Cédric Aubry, owner of Confluences cinemas. He works as site manager for the operator, Francis Fourneau, until the site is inaugurated. The Covid-19 forces you to wait, the reopening of the rooms is postponed at best to mid-May, with a reduced gauge.
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“It gave a false rhythm to the end of the work”, regrets Mr. Aubry. He had some inconvenience in Sablé-sur-Sarthe (Sarthe), where he opened his new cinema in mid-September 2020, before being forced to close the curtain six weeks later. Or in Bar-le-Duc (Meuse), where five new rooms were to be inaugurated on December 15, 2020. “It’s very harsh psychologically and emotionally for the staff. When we are in an opening phase, it’s euphoric, but there, the breath has subsided “, laments Mr. Aubry.
These three examples among many others illustrate the disappointments of operators who, despite the Covid-19 epidemic, continued projects already underway. “The number of venues in France is considered to be the most beautiful in the world”, underlines Robert Laborie, Director of Development at CGR Cinémas. The territorial network, exceptional, has 2,045 establishments, or 6,114 screens.
A good fifty a year
This park is constantly renewed, supplemented, and, each year, the National Center of Cinema and Animated Image (CNC) lists more than fifty projects authorized by the commissions, departmental or national, of cinematographic development. At the moment, dozens of programs, led by municipalities, independent operators or large circuits, are in the making or ready to open in small towns such as Lavandou (Var) or Annemasse (Haute-Savoie), in the suburbs. , in Les Ulis (Essonne), or in the metropolises, in Paris, Marseille or Lyon.
“From the moment the works have started, they end, even if they are somewhat slowed down due to the Covid. It costs more to stop everything ”, underlines Richard Patry, president of the National Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF). “Many new rooms will open suddenly”, he said, while dreading “Then a real slowdown” for unsigned projects. A sudden stop? “I have faith in the future of cinema, but I am not naive, confidence will have to come back, he adds. It will depend on the attitude of the banks, but also on our ability to reach out to all audiences. It is not with a snap of the fingers that we will bring back 213 million spectators to the cinema as in 2019 ”, he predicts.
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