“It’s really a huge effort to stay open right now for most of us, but we were assuming there would be some ambitious movie releases in the coming weeks,” Lemoine told the outlet. “By losing ‘Mulan,’ we lost the possibility of offering our audiences a long-awaited film that would have helped us after these past hard weeks. It is also a bad message to send to the public [who had been expecting a theatrical release].”
Like many movie theater owners, Lemoine is now putting all his hopes on Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros.’ “Tenet” release. The espionage epic can begin rolling out in France on August 26. The owner said the viral video response has “exceeded” his expectations and added that even just the release of “Tenet” isn’t enough to sustain movie theaters. “We thank Warner a lot for releasing ‘Tenet’ in late August,” Lemoine said. “But it’s not enough. Studios need to understand that if they cancel these films or put them on platforms, I won’t be able to last very long. I have devoted my life to showing movies and I don’t want to die!” In countries where Disney+ is available, which includes France, “Mulan” will be available to purchase for $29.99. Viewers will need to have a Disney+ subscription in order to buy “Mulan” at the premium price. Once bought, “Mulan” will be available for viewing as long as the viewer remains a Disney+ subscriber. While studios like Universal have skipped theaters and launched titles on PVOD amid the pandemic, this is the first time a major tentpole is being offered at a PVOD price on top of a streaming subscription price. A theatrical rollout for “Mulan” is being planned for countries that do not have Disney+, most importantly China. “Mulan” will be available to purchase September 4
— Destination Ciné (@destinationcine) August 6, 2020 Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
