Cinemas not back until mid-July as blockbusters dry up

If you were hoping for a return to the cinema anytime soon, think again. And it’s not just Australian health restrictions that are the problem.

INTERNATIONAL blockbuster movies won’t start to re-emerge until the US and Europe get coronavirus under control, a major independent cinema chain owner predicts.

Peter Sourris, who owns Five Star Cinemas with his brother Stephen, said while Australia had done well controlling the virus it was too small a market for distributors to release into without first testing the overseas markets.

Mr Sourris also said opening cinemas for 10 people, the next stage of the relaxation process for indoor venues, was not economically viable.

“We’re aiming for a mid-July reopening, but we’re lucky because we also have Yatala Drive in which has been really busy since we opened it two weeks ago,’’ he said.

“You don’t have to get out of your car, you can take in your own food and drink — it’s perfect at the moment.

“We’ve got the only drive-in in Australia that’s open at the moment.

“We offered for our staff to go down there, which some have done.

“No one has been sacked, but we’ve had to stand down everyone else.

“But we’re also lucky because we own our own premises and don’t have to pay rent.’’

The landmark Red Hill Cinema has had a baptism of fire since the brothers opened it in late November.

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The former derelict, burnt-out shell of the building took many months to gain Council approvals, only for rivals Reading to launch court action, stalling the opening date.

“Then, three months after we launched, we had to close. It has to be the shortest opening of a cinema in the country,’’ Mr Sourris said.

“The timing couldn’t have better though because it was all work, work, work but now I have a three-month-old daughter (his first child) and I can spend time with her.’’

In an amazing coincidence, Stephen Sourris’s wife also gave birth to a daughter, also their first child, just one month apart.

Peter Sourris, who sits on the board of the Independent Cinema Association of Australia, said he had been checking in on other independents — many of them in the westside — and was hopeful most if not all would be back in business.

“Independents have 35 per cent of the box office in Australia. I think that all of them in Brisbane will be back,’’ he said.