UK cinemas set for worst year since 1996 as takings predicted to fall by £900m due to coronavirus

UK cinemas are able to reopen from 4 July

UK cinemas are set to record their worst year since 1996 with sales predicted to fall by £900m due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With cinemas closing their doors back in March, it has been estimated that the industry's yearly takings will be down by 58%, or £900m, due to losses in advertising revenue and box office sales.

Falling from £1.25bn in 2019 to an estimated £525m in 2020, this would make 2020 the lowest year since 1996, when the UK box office took £450m with films including Mission: Impossible and Independence Day being released.

Under government guidance, cinemas are officially allowed to reopen from 4 July, with large chains including Cineworld and Vue aiming to open on this date.

Social distancing measures will be put in place in screening rooms, leading many independent cinemas to argue that reducing their capacity to approximately 60 per cent means reopening is not financially viable.

Within the cinemas that will open, the wearing of face masks will be neither “expected or encouraged”. Cafes and pick and mix will remain closed, but popcorn will be available.

It had been hoped that the reopening of UK cinemas would coincide with the original release date of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet in July, but it was announced last week that the film had now been pushed back to a 12 August release.

Disney’s live action Mulan has also been postponed until 21 August, suggesting that returning to normality might take longer than expected for moviegoers.