Film industry cancels events as COVID-19 cases spike again
Posters for the action blockbuster “Tenet,” left, and the drama “Fukuoka.” / Courtesy of Warner Bros. Korea and Indiestory
By Lee Gyu-lee
Film distributors are on high alert again, canceling or postponing scheduled premiere events as COVID-19 cases resurge in Korea.
The country has reported three-digit figure counts for the past six days. The latest new infection case number released on Wednesday was 297, the biggest daily rise since early March.
As most cases are in the Seoul metropolitan area and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, the government has decided to raise the social distancing level in those areas to Level 2, in a three-tier system, for two weeks from Sunday.
Under Level 2, indoor gatherings of 50 or more people and of 100 or more outdoors are restricted.
In response to the spike, distributors have canceled media screenings or press conferences, including events for the blockbuster action movie “Tenet” and “Parasite” star Park So-dam's new film “Fukuoka.”
Warner Bros. Korea said Tuesday it had canceled Wednesday's media screening for “Tenet” and Thursday's live-stream press conference with director Christopher Nolan and two of the film's cast ― John David Washington and Elizabeth Debicki.
“We ask for your understanding as this is a preventive measure for everyone's health and safety against the spread of COVID-19,” it said, apologizing for such short notice.
A scene from the action crime film “The Golden Holiday.” Courtesy of Showbox
Indiestory, the distributor of the drama “Fukuoka,” also canceled the movie's media screening and press conference set for Friday. It said it would offer the screening online instead.
“As the government has restricted gatherings in closed spaces, we have decided after a thorough discussion to prevent further risks,” it said.
The distributors of two independent films ― “Remain” and “Please Don't Save Me” ― decided to hold media screenings as planned but canceled press conferences initially scheduled for after the screenings.
Distributor Showbox has even decided to postpone the premiere of the action blockbuster film “The Golden Holiday.”
It was slated to hit local theaters on Wednesday, but its release has been delayed “indefinitely,” according to the distributor.
The crime-action film was originally to debut in April but this was postponed due to a rise in infections then. This is another tough blow as cases again drastically escalate.