Cinemas in France and Germany to Shutdown Again Due to the Pandemic

Cinemas in France and Germany to Shutdown Again

In response to the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in Europe, France and Germany will be tightening quarantine restrictions come November including shutting down all movie theaters in an attempt to re-flatten the infection curve.

A stricter set of lock down rules will be introduced in Germany starting on November 2nd, which includes the closure of theaters, restaurants, gyms, bars, and other leisure spaces for the whole month. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the news at a press conference on Wednesday in Berlin. “The speed of the virus is especially high,” Merkel said, adding that the number of people with COVID-19 in intensive care had doubled over the last 10 days, and that the hospital system would very soon be stretched to its limit if the virus is not made under control. “We have to act, and act now,” she said. “The curve must be flattened again.”

Cases in Germany have been skyrocketing over the past week, as the Robert Koch Institute — the country’s public health agency subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Health — confirmed 14,964 new cases on Wednesday. Germany’s national total is now 449,275, and the death toll has surpassed 10,000.

France’s new rules will be put in place on November 30th and will likewise include shuttering of all non-essential businesses, which includes cinemas. French movie theaters, which had already been struggling since reopening in June after a three-month shutdown, may suffer a fatal blow from the new round of closures. Two weeks ago, the entire country was placed under curfew from 9 P.M. to 6 A.M. But unfortunately, that hasn’t been enough to stop the rapid growth in the number of COVID-19 cases. The curfew was initially limited to Paris and other major cities and was later extended to dozens of additional locations and overseas territories a week ago. But as of October 27th, France had 33,417 active cases.

French distributors such as Gaumont were willing to release movies despite the evening curfew, which has been in place. But now they are tabling those plans until the virus has been mitigated. Some of next month’s biggest included Gaumont’s Aline, the Voice of Love, a movie which was inspired by the life of Celine Dion. Despite restrictions on theater venues, the production sector has been doing better, as film shoots are expected to be allowed to carry on during the lock down.

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