Beijing cuts its cinema capacity to half on most lucrative time of year: CNY

The latest 'Detective Chinatown' instalment has already made RM143mil in pre-sale tickets.

Authorities on Feb 4 ordered Beijing cinemas to cut their max capacity to just 50% over the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday to combat the spread of Covid-19, Chinese reports said, slashing prospective returns in what is typically, far and away, their most profitable week of the year.

Cinemas in China's capital received urgent word from the Beijing Film Bureau late Feb 4 evening local time that the capacity changes must be imposed during the public holiday running from Feb 11 to 17, according to the Beijing Commercial Daily News and the Financial Associated Press, the local investment-oriented news outlet.