The sentence is relentless, and it comes from John Carpenter: ” A sad day for the cinema “. The director ofHalloween, of The Thing or even New York 1997 expressed his disappointment on April 13 on Twitter. The day before, the owner of the American cinema chains Pacific Theaters and ArcLight had announced that its theaters will not reopen at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, and all of Hollywood has been healing since its hangover. The reaction of filmmaker Barry Jenkins, winner of the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture with Moonlight, has been more concise on the same social network: “FUCK”.
On paper, Decurion Corporation, which oversees the two entities, is a Petit Poucet: in total, 17 theaters and 230 screens, mainly in Southern California, against more than 8,000 screens for AMC, the market leader in United States (and worldwide).
“The situation of cinemas has suddenly become more apparent than ever: it is a struggle, week by week, to remain profitable. Jeff Bock, analyst
The company has remained family-owned: the current CEO is the grandson of the founder, William Forman, who started in the aftermath of the Second World War by opening drive-ins – Decurion still owns one, in the suburbs of Los Angeles. , which remained open during the pandemic -, and the company has diversified over the years by playing real estate developers. But the brutal April 12 announcement took an industry that was just celebrating the gradual reopening of theaters, authorized since March 15 in Los Angeles, by surprise for the first time in a year.
“Everyone got a blow to the stomach, explains Jeff Bock, analyst for the specialist company Exhibitor Relations. It felt like they were too big to fail [“trop gros pour échouer”]. But the reality of the movie theater situation has suddenly become more apparent than ever: it’s a struggle, week by week, to stay profitable. ”
Decurion simply decided to return the keys to its cinemas to the owners of the walls, and the announcement was not the subject of any warning signs – safeguard proceedings or attempted sale. She struck Hollywood right at its heart, just steps from the major studios. “Many filmmakers and members of the film industry frequent these theaters, emphasizes Jeff Bock. These are the rooms where the people behind and in front of the cameras see the films for the first time. “
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