Coronavirus: All cinemas ordered to close across Australia, Event stands down staff

National cinema chain Event has stood down the majority of its staff after cinemas across Australia were ordered to shut down.

Event, Birch Carroll and Coyle, CU Film House and Greater Union cinemas have stood down the “majority” of their staff after the federal government ordered the shut down of every cinema across Australia

On Sunday night, Prime Minister Scott Morrison instituted further social distancing rules in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

He mandated the closure of venues he described as the “principal place of socialisation”, which included cinemas alongside pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes.

The escalation followed a weekend in which many Australians ignored social distancing guidelines, leading to packed beaches and pubs. NSW and Victoria also announced it would move to close all non-essential services.

In a statement released on Monday morning, Event said all of its venues would close temporarily from today. It said “in order to preserve as many jobs as possible for the future, Event Cinemas will temporarily stand down the majority of cinema employees from Friday, March 27 until the end of May 2020, and will assess the situation again at the point in time”.

Event said employees will be able to draw on leave entitlements during the stand down period, and negative leave balances will be offered.

Event general manager of Entertainment Luke Mackey said: “The impact of coronavirus is unprecedented and significantly affecting a large part of the economy, including our cinema businesses and the substantial safety requirements enforced by the Australian Government has given us no alternative but to temporarily close cinemas and the State Theatre.

“We look forward to reopening with a strong blockbuster film line-up, and return to employing staff in the local communities we operate.”

All customers who purchased advanced tickets will be automatically refunded.

A statement from Hoyts said: “For the first time in our history, we are closing our cinemas until further notice. We sincerely thank our guests for their support and look forward to welcoming them back as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Dendy cinemas updated its website on Monday morning to confirm it had closed.

Australia follows the lead of the other nations including China, Italy, France, the UK and most US cities in closing all cinemas and entertainment spaces.

Birds of Prey is a recent cinema release which has been expedited to video-on-demand digital release in the US

Earlier last week, one national cinema chain, Palace Cinemas, pre-emptively shut their doors indefinitely. At the time, Hoyts, Events and Dendy continued to operate, albeit at a reduced capacity to adhere to government advice on maximum numbers in indoor venues.

The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on many industries worldwide, including arts and entertainment.

In the movie industry, blockbuster movies had their release dates delayed for months or indefinitely when it became apparent that cinemas would be shuttering the world over. The first film to be delayed was the new Bond instalment, No Time To Die, before it was followed by Fast & Furious 9, A Quiet Place II , Mulan, Black Widow and more.

In response, movie studios in the US started to alter its release strategy, fast-tracking the video-on-demand and streaming releases of recently released theatrical titles, which would normally violate the three-month exclusivity window promised to cinemas.

In the US, movies that have or will hit video-on-demand digital rentals include Birds of Prey, Onward, Bloodshot, The Invisible Man and Emma.

Universal will release Trolls: World Tour directly to video-on-demand next month, on the same date it was to be in cinemas. Trolls: World Tour has been postponed in Australia until September for a theatrical release.

One Paramount title, The Lovebirds, which was to release in April and was pulled from the schedule was, this weekend, bought by Netflix for release on the streaming platform.

Disney also moved the streaming release of Frozen 2 up three months on its platform, Disney+.

Last week, because Australian cinemas were still operating, the local arms of Hollywood studios were persisting with theatrical releases. Those plans are now scarpered.

Palace Films confirmed its upcoming releases have all been postponed, including foreign language films My Days of Glory and Martin Eden. Sony, Icon Films, StudioCanal and Madman all confirmed their releases have been postponed. Icon said Spread Your Wings will be delayed until September while Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra will be postponed until March 2021.

News.com.au has requested comment from Roadshow, Disney, Sony, Paramount, Madman, Transmission and Universal on whether the closure of cinemas locally will shift any of those theatrical releases to video-on-demand or streaming.

Dendy was also contacted for comment.

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