We are going to see movies less and less on the big screen. Since the reopening of dark rooms on May 19, major brands such as Independents have entered between -20 and -30%. The cinemas of Haute-Garonne are not immune to the post-COVID drop in attendance observed everywhere in France.
Mega CGR, Kinepolis, UGC
“It’s like everywhere“underlines the boss of Mega CGR Blagnac Jean-Baptiste Salvat, “attendance is down“the public comes for the big releases of films such Dune, the last James Bond or Venom then it withers. Its cinema, which has 15 rooms, records depending on the week -20, -30% admissions.
the Kinepolis of Fenouillet feels an equivalent drop “after a jump in September when paradoxically with 11,500 visitors it recorded its highest number of admissions since it opened, +200. “But since the director of the multiplex of 8 rooms Vincent Boy, feels a decrease of 25% compared to the figures before the pandemic in 2019.
Same disappointment for the brand new UGC Montaudran opened south of Toulouse last May. The leaders explain that they are patient because “we are in a brand new neighborhood not finished at all” and we waiting for the metro in 2028“. For the time being, the new seven-screen cinema is far from having reached its cruising speed, with only a third filling the rooms, its technical director Jean Duveuf notes:”there is room for everyone, there is no risk of stepping on each other, but attendance is constantly increasing. “
Fewer customers, but loyal people who need to come
Some spectators passed in the hall of the UGC Montaudran just after the health pass control admit having changed their habits from the Covid: “we go to the cinema a lot less, we need an opportunity, it’s complicated, it’s less fluid, it’s less welcoming in fact “said a father who came to see Dune with his children.
But the Covid also had the effect of making feel the importance of going to see movies on the big screen : “the lack during confinement pushed me to go to the cinema more often than before“explains a spectator at the foot of the escalators while in front of a ticket collection terminal, a young couple outbid these words:”it allows you to go out and see the films you don’t see at home, bring the cinema to life, attend it, it’s still nice ! “
The Independents of Véo
The Indépendants Véo installed in Haute-Garonne at Muret (8 rooms), Revel (1 room), Castelginest (1 room), and Colomiers (5 rooms), as well as in the Aude in Castelnaudary (3 rooms) do not draw more their game than the big brands. According to Jean-Pierre Villa the president of Center-Sud Cinematographic Exploitation Syndicate “the smallest cinemas offering fewer films suffer more than the others“. The constraint of the health pass would not be the only explanation. Cinephiles seem to need time to find their marks and resume their habits. Jean-Pierre Villa remains hopeful, he specifies that”30% of spectators say they no longer go to the cinema for the moment and affirm that they will return as soon as health security is restored. “
Upcoming films showing
To find its audience, cinemas rely on very many mainstream film releases announced by the end of the year as “Les Tuches 4”, “Matrix 4”, the Disney “Encanto”, the 3rd part of the action film “King’s man” or the latest Clint Eastwood “Cry Macho” or the film “Aline” which traces the life of Celine Dion. And from this Wednesday (November 3) the Marvell “Eternals”.