Box office revenue is anticipated to more than halved following the outbreak. Photo / Getty Images
Box office revenue is anticipated to more than halved following the outbreak. Photo / Getty Images
Cinema doors remain open despite nationwide cancellations of public events.
Industry operators and the association representing them in this country, remain tight-lipped on the hit the Covid-19 pandemic has had on business, but analysts expect this to be significant.
Ticket sales and the number of people to screenings is believedto have plummeted over the past couple of weeks as the outbreak spreads and the Government has moved to advise the public to avoid large gatherings.
While the spread and more confirmed cases of Covid-19 unfolds in New Zealand, cinemas seem to have held their position of "business as usual" albeit deploying additional cleaning measures in a bid to reduce the risk of more infections.
A string of upcoming movie releases, including Disney's highly anticipated live-action remake of Mulan, along with the new James Bond film and a handful of children's films set to hit the box office in time for the school holidays next month, have been pushed back to much later in the year due to the outbreak.
Motion Picture Distributors' Association of New Zealand (MPDA), which represents cinema operators throughout the country, declined to comment on how Covid-19 had impacted New Zealand's cinema industry, ticket sales and the number of people through theatres.
MPDA president Jacinda Ryan referred the Herald to Event Cinemas and Hoyts, who also declined to comment on the direct impact.
A spokesman for Event Cinemas said it was "business as usual" at its complexes - it declined to provide further comment.
Hoyts, which operates 10 cinema complexes, the majority of those in Auckland, said it was still early days and it did not know for certain what the impact had been on ticket sales.
"Year on year comparisons are not a good guide given attendance is really driven by the popularity of the various movies on release in a particular period," Hoyts marketing manager Renee Asmar told the Herald.
She said Hoyts continued to monitor advice from the Ministry of Health, and had introduced additional cleaning measures to limit the spread of Covid-19.
"Hoyts has introduced a range of measures to help ensure our guests and employees safety, these include a virus cleaning agent to be used at high touch point areas and surfaces, reminders in all toilets to hand wash, regular seat cleaning between sessions and ongoing communication with our site managers to regularly remind our staff of the importance of maintaining good hygiene practices"
It was also giving customers the option to shift their seats to distance themselves from other groups of people within cinemas, she said.
Chris Wilkinson, managing director of First Retail Group, anticipates that cinema revenue had dropped by at least a 50 per cent, inline with the drops experienced in tourism and hospitality, as New Zealanders continue to be wary of "close encounter situations".
"People are being understandably prudent," Wilkinson said.
"In an environment like a cinema where you have a lot of people, in these current circumstances, it is responsible to be considering going to these places, or even promoting these environments."
New Zealanders would also be following international coverage of the Covid-19, and be aware of countries such as Britain which was advising its residents to avoid communal spaces such as theatres, pubs and clubs.
Wilkinson anticipates ticket sales and footfall into cinemas in New Zealand would have more than halved following the Covid-19 outbreak.
The New Zealand Government has effectively banned large gatherings of more than 500 people, which has seen a raft of community and sporting events and concerts cancelled, including the Easter Show.
It has not issued any guidance in relation to attending cinemas.
Greg Harford, chief executive of Retail NZ, which has cinema operator members, said cinemas had without a doubt experienced a drop in demand.
"Cinemas are maintaining good hygiene and good cleanliness practices and are still open, but I think they have seen a significant drop off in demand as all entertainment and hospitality offerings have," Harford said, adding that it was not unreasonable to assume that sales had for cinemas had more than halved in recent weeks.
"If you look at what's happening, there's a number of big releases that have been pushed back from April through to later in the year. The latest James Bond film has, Peter Rabbit 2, Paddington 3, all of which were slated for school holiday release or April release are now not going to be out publicly until October or November so that is certainly a sign that the cinema industry is keeping [those] for when people are back out and about."
