Covid will cost European cinemas ‘at least’ $20 billion in losses in 2020/2021, trade group says

European cinemas have been affected by $20 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to an estimate released Tuesday by the Industrial Trading Group, the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC). The forced closure of cinemas and COVID-19 restrictions, including capacity limits and mask requirements, have meant a total revenue loss of “at least” €19 billion ($20 billion) in the industry. from the EU and the UK, said UNIC. Its annual report was released Tuesday at the start of the CineEurope conference, taking place June 20-23 in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

After reaching a historic record of 9,300 million dollars (8,800 million euros) in European taquillas in 2019, the cine cayó by a precipice in 2020 and cayó at 2,800 million dollars (2,620 million euros) in 2020. last year. Somehow, cash registers grew 42% year-on-year to $3.9 billion (€3.7 billion) in the EU and UK, but that figure is still 70% lower before the 2019 pandemic.

Lack of content can be one of the problems. UNIC noted that while there were an average of 480 new releases in Europe in 2019, the number of new subtitles dropped to 250 in 2020 and barely increased last year to just 270. Which, however, was a significant part of the sale. of income. Just five movies: there is no time for death, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Dune, F9s Poison: Let there be a massacre, 98 million tickets were sold across the region, approximately one-sixth of the total 589 million tickets registered by UNIC during the year. This compares with 432 million tickets sold in 2020 and 1.347 million in 2019.

Pointing to a more pronounced recovery in the second half of last year, UNIC was optimistic about the film industry’s prospects as COVID restrictions eased and Hollywood studios accelerated their release schedules. They cited the latest forecast from Gower Street Analytics, which predicts European box office grosses to reach $8.1 billion this year, up 62% in 2021 compared to previous pandemic figures.