China Re-Closes Movie Theaters Amid Renewed Concerns Over COVID-19 Exposure

Chinese authorities ordered Friday that cinemas reopened in the last week to close again immediately due to renewed fears over coronavirus exposure.

The decision came hours after around 200 theaters in Shanghai had been given the go-ahead to reopen on Saturday as China tried to rebound from the COVID-19 outbreak, which started in Wuhan. It will force the more than 500 theaters that had reopened since March 20 to close back down.

“Having received notice from the higher level departments, movie theaters will temporarily not resume operations on March 28,” Chinese theater chains Broadway Cinemas, Cinema Palace and Premiere Cinemas said in a joint statement.

Anyone who had already purchased a ticket would be refunded within seven business days.

Theaters began reopening after local government officials told theater owners and China’s national film bureau they could do so as long as cinemas were following “mandated health procedures.” It also came as China was reporting few to no new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19.

Despite the drop, the number of imported cases has slowly risen during that time and forced the Chinese government to lock down borders and travel.

The first wave of open theaters was playing older Chinese films and posted $2,000 in ticket sales. Plans were in place for several Hollywood films to be imported in April as part of the theaters’ second step in reopening, including such films as “Bad Boys for Life” and “1917.”

Exhibitors have expressed frustration with the decision, saying this could be a sign that theater closures could last longer than first hoped.

“This second closure will not be a one- or two-week issue,” one executive, who ask to remain anonymous, told The Hollywood Reporter. “They are going to be even more cautious when they attempt to reopen again — and this will set us back a long time.”