The Chinese box office is gearing up for a starkly unsexy Valentine’s Day, with “Jojo Rabbit” and a local title formally pulling out of the mid-February line-up, while unconfirmed reports suggest that others – including “Little Women” – will soon pull the plug, amidst strict measures to prevent the spread of deadly coronavirus.
Cinemas are currently shut across the country, and all film and TV production has been indefinitely halted. Though the Chinese new year holiday has been extended until Feb. 10 in much of the country, Chinese residents remain for the most part locked away at home nationwide, venturing out only out of necessity while businesses remain shut.
Oscar contender “Jojo Rabbit” pulled out of its Feb. 12 China debut “out of consideration for the enclosed spaces of cinemas and the risk of transmitting the disease,” according to a statement from the National Arthouse Alliance of Cinemas, which was distributing it in a limited release.
“We hope every audience member can limit going outside and actively take self-protection measures,” it read. “We salute the medical workers on the frontline of the battle! The national arthouse alliance will actively cooperate with the country’s moves to fight the epidemic, and to contribute our strength to win this blockade against the epidemic!”
Popular on Variety
Positive, patriotic messages evoking military rhetoric about the “battle” against the disease have proliferated as the country takes unprecedented measures to try to contain the virus, such as placing cities of millions on effective lockdown.
Chinese first feature “The Enigma of Arrival” has also pulled out from its February release. Directed by Song Wen, president of China’s FIRST Film Festival, it premiered at Busan in 2018.
Eleven other films including Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” are currently still listed as releasing on Valentine’s Day, but they are likely to pull out in the coming days if the epidemic situation does not improve. Things look grim for the bevvy of other foreign titles originally lined up to hit China this month, including the Robert Downey Jr.-starring “Dolitte” on the 21st, Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” and “Sonic the Hedgehog” on the 28th.
Should they re-schedule, the Oscar-nominated titles among them will lose the opportunity to ride the PR boost of a win to greater box office success in the world’s second-largest film market, the way last year’s best picture winner “Green Book” rode a tide of attention to an unexpected $71 million haul.
Meanwhile, other entertainment options will also remain limited in China for the foreseeable future.
Almost all live music shows across the country have been cancelled in February and March, with the fate of a remaining handful of big tours and festivals still in limbo. The Pixies, set to make their China debut in Shanghai on Feb. 29 and Beijing on March 1, have pulled out, while the Japanese pop group Suchmoz has also cancelled their China tour to Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. The Chinese outposts of the Blue Note jazz club in both Beijing and Shanghai have cancelled all February shows, as has popular Shanghai venue Yuyintang.