Coronavirus Causes 85% Crash in Asia Box Office1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTheatrical box office in the Asia-Pacific region tumbled a massive 85% in the first two months of the year. The coronavirus caused cinema closures, audience hesitation, and a halving of the number of film releases.
Asia is home to the five of the top ten cinema markets outside North America. According to data from the MPAA, China, Japan and South Korea were the three biggest international territories in 2019. India ranked sixth, and Australia tenth.
The figures from S&P Global Market Intelligence and OPUSData only cover January and February, a period when Asia was first feeling the Covid-19 impact. Local pointers suggest that March will be worse still.
Image credit: Universal Pictures
