When will Chinese Cinemas Open Again?

This week, a wide range of industries in China from hotels and restaurants to retail businesses have resumed operations. This makes many in the film industry ask this question again: when will Chinese cinemas be allowed to re-open? A source close to the authorities told WeChat media account youhaoxifilm that movie theaters will not be allowed to resume business until May 1st. The planning timeline, however, is based on the premise that the coronavirus outbreak is fully contained by the end of April. youhaoxifilm also learned from several industry veterans that the major challenges for the film exhibition sector are not only about how to avoid the spread of the virus, but also about how to reassure moviegoers and how to plan release schedule for the rest of the year. Film industry professionals in China, according to youhaoxifilm, generally believed that under the current situation, it would be very hard for the film industry to organically recover from the disruption without supportive policies from the government. Read more on youhaoxifilm

French Romance ‘Love at Second Sight’ Confirms China Release

Directed by Hugo Gélin, the 2019 French romantic drama Love at Second Sight (Mon inconnue) has scored a China release, although the release date remains undecided. Starring François Civil and Joséphine Japy, the film follows a man who tries to make his wife fall in love with him again after he wakes up in a parallel universe where she never knew him. In China, Love at Second Sight is now promoted as the French version of Someday or One Day, a hit Taiwanese romantic drama with similar elements such as “parallel worlds” and “time travel.” Read more on 1905.com