China News Service Toronto August 21 (Reporter Yu Ruidong) Cineplex, the largest cinema chain in Canada, has fully reopened since August 21, bringing hopes of a bottom-out rebound for the Canadian film industry that has been severely hit by the new crown epidemic.
Cineplex announced that it has 1,687 screens in 164 cinemas across Canada and all 10 entertainment centers have resumed operations. Since mid-March, its theaters have been closed in response to government epidemic prevention requirements, causing its second-quarter revenue to plummet by 95% year-on-year.
On August 21, local time, at a Cineplex theater in Markham, Ontario, Canada, , , a few teenagers bought tickets in front of an unmanned ticket vending machine. China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong photo
In fact, starting from late June, Cineplex has reopened a few theaters one after another according to different epidemic control situations in various regions. Although other theaters and car theaters have resumed operations recently, the restart of Cineplex across the board is more indicative for the film market. The reporter from
visited a Cineplex theater in , Markham, Ontario, , in the afternoon, but the audience was very small. A few young people came together and bought tickets in front of the unmanned ticket vending machine. After buying tickets, they wore masks and entered the cinema to watch "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Great Adventure of Rescue". The theater has adopted measures such as limiting the number of people, providing disinfectant, and has multiple epidemic prevention signs.
The picture shows several teenagers waiting outside the theater to watch the movie. China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong photo by Cineplex said that it is one of the first large-scale cinema chains in the world to fully restart. A number of different types of films will be released, including the famous director Christopher Nolan 's new work "The Creed" (Tenet), which will be released later this month. The
film festival activities are also reviving. As a well-known brand event in the Canadian film industry, when the 45th Toronto International Film Festival debuts in mid-September this year, it will also take the form of virtual and offline integration for the first time. In addition to providing limited theater seats, the festival also encourages movie fans to watch movies in car theaters and outdoor theaters. At the same time, the films participating in the screening will also be broadcast on the festival's digital platform. The
film festival organizing committee stated that the festival can create economic benefits of more than 200 million Canadian dollars for Toronto and Ontario every year. But this year not only the form has been adjusted, but the scale also needs to be reduced. The number of films participating in the screening has been reduced from more than 300 in previous years to about 50.
The picture shows a young audience watching a movie poster. Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong
These films include " not stop " directed by mainland Chinese director Wang Jing, Chinese director Wu Hao and other documentaries about Wuhan's anti-epidemic film "76 days", Zhao Ting "A Place of Nowhere" and "Escape from the Legislative Yuan" by Taiwanese director Wang Yifan.
Dozens of filmmakers from all over the world served as the "ambassadors" of this Toronto International Film Festival to show their support, including famous Chinese filmmakers Jia Zhangke, Zhang Ziyi, etc.
In Montreal, the annual Canadian Fantasia (Fantasia) International Film Festival kicked off on August 20 and will continue until early September. This event, regarded as the largest genre film festival in North America, will all be held on the online platform this year.
More than ten feature films or short films from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong will participate in this year's 24th Fantasy Film Festival. Among them, Hong Kong films include 6 such as "Slaying Wolf" and "True Hero", which account for the largest proportion. (End)
Source: China News Network
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