This week, the governments of both France and the UK announced the extension of their lockdowns, extending the mandated closure of movie theatres together with restaurants, museums, performance venues, and most other places for indoor public gatherings. The lockdown period will extend through the end of January, and perhaps longer based on the percentage of positive coronavirus tests in the country. France had seen a strong rebound in the box office last summer when its cinemas had been permitted to re-open after the initial shutdowns at the onset of the pandemic last spring. In fact, France became the 3rd largest overseas market for ticket sales in 2020, jumping up from 5th place in 2019. This would seem to indicate pent-up demand for moviegoing in Europe’s largest theatrical market.
See also: Covid: New lockdowns for England and Scotland ahead of ‘hardest weeks’ (BBC)