The weather has been getting warmer in April but for most cinemas a cold wind is still blowing, partly due to the pandemic but also because of the growing popularity of online video platforms.
For many moviegoers in China, it’s not surprising to see cinemas closing as there have been signs for some time of difficulties in the industry.
In March, the movie box office in China was only 913 million yuan ( $143 million ), a decrease of 63.5 percent compared to the year before. At the same time, due to the lack of supply of new movies, the operating rate of cinemas continued to decline, and more than half of the theaters nationwide were closed for a short time.
As well as the epidemic, the rise of online video platforms in the past three years has also put pressure on cinemas. The quality of the product and the fact that new movies are directly available online has seen society gradually adapting to the streaming media model.
iQIYI has released a total of 33 movies since 2021.Other video platforms are also pushing for more movie rights for the audience. For 26-year-old Zixian, she hasn’t gone to the cinema for over three years since COVID-19 began at the end of 2019. For her, the expensive movie tickets and low expectations for new movies have kept her away from the cinema.
However, many industry insiders and moviegoers still believe that cinemas are a symbol within society and that their fortunes will revive as long as there are enough viewers and fans of cinema. Meanwhile, business insiders also believe there is still hope for the future of cinemas.
Xiao Fuqiu, a film critic based in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Monday that “ compared with media giants like Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, I don’t think the Chinese online streaming platforms have caused a threat to the survival and development of cinemas. Instead, I think the two platforms are complementary (互补的) to each other. ”
【小题1】Which of the following is NOT the reason for the decrease of the movie box office?| A．The growing popularity of online video platforms. |
| B．Shortage of new movies. |
| C．Lack of attractive actors or actress. |
| D．The pandemic COVID-19. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Indifferent. | D．Neutral. |
| A．Life style. | B．Fashion. | C．Film review. | D．Culture. |
