Movie theaters in China have been instructed by the country’s national film board to close hours after at least 200 theaters attempted to reopen in Shanghai, according to Xinhua Daily News via posts on China’s social media outlet Weibo.
The country’s National Film Bureau via a report in the Jiangsu Provincial Film Bureau informed exhibitors and business was suspended immediately. No specific time was given as to when theaters might be able to reopen again.
Over the weekend, over 500 theaters in the country’s mainland reopened with little success at the box office, even as exhibitors intended to encourage attendance by screening films like the all-time biggest earner at the box office “Wolf Warrior 2” or “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”