Deconfinement: “It’s war, but a good war”, confides a cinema programmer facing the 400 expected films

It’s the recovery! This cry made the cinema planet vibrate! The rooms will reopen from May 19 and the relief is palpable among professionals deprived of activity since October 30 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are facing a wall of films: around 150 French films and 250 foreign films”, warns the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot in French Film, ensuring “to trust the responsibility of all to achieve a concerted schedule outings. “

The fact remains that 400 feature films will have to find their place, knowing that we normally only record about fifteen releases per week. “It’s war, but it’s a good war”, confides to 20 minutes Samuel Merle, Parisian programmer of the 5 Caumartins, the Elysées Lincoln and the 7 Parnassiens.

Gradually but surely

The gradual reopening with a gauge of 35% of the capacity of theaters on May 19, enlarged to 65% on June 9, to return to 100% on June 30, makes things complicated. Especially since the curfew at 9 p.m. still limits the number of sessions. “We will not be able to last more than three weeks at 35%, insists Samuel Merle. Especially in Paris, where theaters often offer less than 100 seats. The idea that the public can return home after 9 p.m. on presentation of their cinema ticket seems to be buried and the operators also deplore that the sale of the confectionery remains prohibited until the time of the reopening of the restaurants, scheduled for the 9th. June.

A huge choice

Unlike the previous reopening, on June 22, this time operators have a huge choice from which to draw. “We must be positive, insists Amel Lacombe of Eurozoom who is releasing two Japanese animated films,” On-Gaku: our rock and
Violet Evergaden, from May 19. We are leaving on a blank page, without any film in theaters. If everyone is correct, even films from small distributors like me should find their place. »Jean-Jacques Rue, programmer at Urban Distribution, independent distributor who is waiting for the summer to come out
The flavor of quinces and Sweet Thing, is less optimistic. “This is the logic of the lifeboat: when everything is going well, solidarity prevails in the world of cinema and when we are shipwrecked, everyone wants to get on board, beating their friends on the head,” he says. he.

A programming puzzle

Because in reality, distributors, programmers and exhibitors play Tetris to get as many films as possible into theaters. “The hardest part is to try to anticipate the tastes of the public which have undoubtedly changed during the confinements, insists the room programmer Manuel Merle. If the balance of power still exists vis-à-vis film distributors, it has been reversed because they need us. He waits for the calendar to be definitively fixed before making his choice, distributors constantly changing the release dates of their films according to the announcements of their competitors.

Adapt to the market

“You have to be responsive and adapt to the market,” says Xavier Albert, president of Universal France. We will not force the hand of cinema exhibitors, even if we must be more demanding in the negotiations for Fast & Furious 9 scheduled for July 14. This film may shake up the market, but the studio is running a real risk in releasing it worldwide while the pandemic is not over. “Xavier Albert thinks above all that it is the French films that will compete this summer:” It will be a great first because they rarely came out during this period. He himself is concerned this year since Universal is released on June 30 PresidentsAnne Fontaine, in which the French branch of the studio has invested heavily.

A boon for spectators

“It’s the jungle,” sighs Alejandro Fourrier, director of L’Empire in Paray-le Monial in Burgundy. I hope to be able to get some big films for my theaters as soon as they are released, because if they are given to me later, piracy will have largely damaged their commercial potential. Like his fellow operators, Alejandro Fourrier strives to find the formula to satisfy both spectators and a cash flow damaged by months of closure. However, the enthusiasm remains at the rendezvous. “The reopening of cinemas is galvanizing for exhibitors and a tremendous opportunity for the public”, declares Gérard Lemoine, director of Cin Nepal in Palaiseau (92), for whom this embarrassment of the choice of films is to be taken as an invitation to return to the theaters because everyone can find a film to their liking.