Le Grand Rex theater, which boasts France’s biggest cinema screen, will be closing down on Aug. 3 for several weeks due to the dearth of fresh releases.
The Grand Red theater, located in the heart of Paris and popular among teenagers and family audiences, reopened its doors on June 22 after a three-month shutdown.
The venue announced its decision to close down temporary in a letter posted on its Twitter account, just a few days after Disney announced “Mulan” would be delayed again. Warner Bros., meanwhile, announced on Monday that Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” will be released at the end of August in 70 overseas territories, including France. Exhibitors were were expecting both “Tenet” and “Mulan” to open in mid-July.
“After more than a month of reopening, we would like to thank you for having been so many to celebrate the Seventh art… But as August approaches, the situation is a little different… We don’t have enough films to show you,” said the Grand Rex.
Indeed, all of France’s theaters reopened on June 22 with the perspective of showing many new films this summer, some French films of course, but also, for the Grand Rex and its audiences, some American movies such as “Mulan,” “Tenet” and “The New Mutants.”
The letter went on to explain that “today, U.S. films have to be released simultaneously around the world to prevent piracy.” “As the situation of the virus in the U.S. and Latin America is still very complicated, their theaters are still closed and movies are being delayed each day.”
The theater also pointed that admissions were traditionally down in August, even in normal years. “Between the drop in attendance and the weak offer, we decided to closed down on Aug. 3 in the evening,” said the Grand Rex.
The venue did not give a date of reopening, saying it will “depend on the news.”
Before closing temporarily, the Grand Rex theater will be hosting a weeklong “Marathon” of DC movies, including “Batman,” “Superman,” “Suicide Squad” and “Birds of Prey,” starting on July 29. Then on Aug.2, the theater will also host a special lineup of space movies, such as “Gravity” and “Apollo 13.”