Movie goers itching to get back to theatres, claims survey

Mumbai: As the country re-opens its economy and  even as theatre owners are pleading government to allow re-opening theatres, a  survey by bookmyshow.com found that about 54% of the 4000 respondents in the 18-65 years age  group across 235 Indian cities, were willing to return to theatres within 15- 90 days of lifting of lockdown. 

Theatres have been closed across the country since March owing to lockdown announced in response to spread of Covid-19 pandemic.

About 90% of respondents were willing to observe social distancing and 98% of respondents expected theatres to follow safety and hygiene standards. Associations of theatre owners, producers had taken a delegation to the union minister for information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar seeking re-opening of movie theatres. 

The Multiplex Association of India  has already proposed various safety measures like disinfecting and sanitation of premises apart from leaving adjacent seats empty except for couples, families or groups.

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Another survey by Ormax Media in Mid-May had also found that 82% missed theatres during lockdown and were willing to step out to see films within two to three weeks of opening. This survey also found that 69% of respondents were willing to step in theatres not just for big scale movies but for small and medium budget movies too. 

Theatre owners are also jittery with their viewers and producers being lured away by the OTT(Over The Top) platforms  like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, MXN Player, Hotstar etc. With no sign of the theatres opening in India, movies like Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo, Akshay Kumar-starrer Laxmi Bomb have already opted for OTT release by skipping its theatrical release.  Bollywood trade experts say that release of films on OTT means a huge climb down in terms of their revenue generation. “While an Rs 65-crore invested Dangal can never dream of earning Rs 2000 crores that it did from its theatrical release, from an OTT platform release.

The OTT can pay that much,” says Yusuf  Shaikh, business head of Feature Films (Production, Distribution, Acquisition and IPR Management) of Percept Pictures. Speaking at an online interaction, Shaikh felt that movies lost out on their full earning potential on OTT platforms and it was left for producers to take a call on whether or not to wait for the uncertainty of theatre openings to be sorted. Shaikh, who has distributed over 100 movies, said that there was too much uncertainty even beyond the re-opening dates of theatres in terms of whether they would be able to operate to their full capacity and whether just 30-40% seat occupancy would be commercially viable especially with sanitation costs going up. 

“Holding on to a movie is a risk, since by the time the theatres open, there will be ten more movies ready for release and hence competition is bound to go up,” said Shaikh, also a theatre owner, who offers consultancy on film’s market feasibility. 

In a letter, the Multiplex Association of India, that claims to represent  over 90% theatre owners in India, had urged all producers, artists, content creators, artists, studio partners to hold and release their movies only in theatres in order to preserve the “collective  social experience of watching movies on the big screen”.   

Internationally theatres have been gearing up for re-opening along with the release of much awaited Christopher Nolan’s mega movie Tenet . The Warner Bros spy thriller shot over seven countries and costing over $200 million, has created international buzz with its teaser. While initially it was scheduled to release July 17, it is now slated to open on July 31.