A lot of the discussion surrounding Christopher Nolan last year was how he wanted to release “Tenet” in theaters to help provide a spark for the industry to hopefully bring people back to cinemas and help resuscitate an industry that has been hit incredibly hard since the pandemic began. Now, almost a year after theaters around the world shut down, most territories are still struggling to get back to 100% and theaters (especially in North America and Europe) just haven’t seen the recovery that they were hoping. So, Nolan is back, along with a group of dozens of filmmakers, to help convince the UK government to save “the magic of cinema.”
According to Deadline, Nolan has joined forces with Steve McQueen, Ridley Scott, Edgar Wright, and a few dozen more folks to urge the UK government to pump in some more funding in the theatrical exhibition industry to help it survive during this terrible time. In an open letter, the group asked for “targeted funding support to ensure that future generations can enjoy the magic of cinema.”
In the UK, much like the rest of Europe and in North America, a large number of theaters are shut down due to local government restrictions in response to spikes in COVID-19 cases. And because of this, the industry is struggling to stay afloat as cinema owners, big and small, continue to try to figure out how to keep the lights on without customers buying movie tickets.
“We recognize the support that government has already been able to provide,” the letter said. “But we fear that this will not be enough, with the challenges being most acute for those larger cinema operators who have not been able to access any tailored funding.”
It added, “These companies represent over 80 per cent of the market, in many ways constituting its ‘critical mass’ and helping to drive the success of associated sectors such as film distribution and production coalesce. Without them, the future of the entire UK film industry would look extremely precarious.”
Even though last year, it seemed as if Nolan was a bit too concerned about the future of cinemas due to the pandemic, we’re seeing some of the biggest theater chains in the world talk about possible bankruptcy and closure if things don’t change soon enough. Of course, a large part of that recovery is going to be with how fast the vaccine is distributed. But in the mean time, UK cinemas need financial assistance too.
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“We very much hope that Government will respond to this call,” the letter continued. “UK cinema stands on the edge of an abyss. We urgently need targeted funding support to ensure that future generations can enjoy the magic of cinema.”
The full letter was signed by Andrea Arnold OBE, Amma Asante MBE, Simon Beaufoy, Tim Bevan CBE, Danny Boyle, Graham Broadbent, Barbara Broccoli OBE, Iain Canning, Gurinder Chadha OBE, Noel Clarke, Richard Curtis CBE, Stephen Daldry CBE, Gareth Edwards, Eric Fellner CBE, Stephen Frears, Stephen Fry, Sarah Gavron, Jane Goldman, Paul Greengrass, David Heyman, Armando Iannucci OBE, Asif Kapadia, Elizabeth Karlsen, Duncan Kenworthy OBE, Paul King, Jude Law, Philippa Lowthorpe, Andrew Macdonald, Kevin Macdonald, Steve McQueen CBE, Sam Mendes CBE, Peter Morgan CBE, Christopher Nolan, Nira Park, David Puttnam CBE, Lynne Ramsay, Guy Ritchie, Ridley Scott, Emma Thomas, Matthew Vaughn, Ben Wheatley, Michael G. Wilson OBE, Stephen Woolley, Edgar Wright, and Joe Wright.