Coronavirus Causes 75% Box Office Drop in Italy as Industry Scrambles to Combat Crisis

A Scots couple trapped on board a cruise ship have told of their horror after discovering the boat is now set to dock in coronavirus stricken Italy.

One day at a time. Tom Hanks’ sister gave an update on the actor’s condition after he and his wife, Rita Wilson, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Bono is back.

“Big Brother Germany” contestants were stunned into silence after they were finally told about coronavirus live on TV.

Ciara and Russell Wilson are doing some real good for people in need.

The European box office took a major hit over the weekend, with cinemas in several major territories —including France, Spain and Italy—shut down entirely in response to the coronavirus epidemic and the ones still open playing to half-empty rooms. Revenue in the U.K.

As the coronavirus outbreak escalates in the U.K., union leaders and lawyers are calling for enhanced support for freelance film and TV workers, who are projected to fall at the sharpest edges of a crisis that could decimate the independent production sector if prolonged.

The international box office has taken a major hit because movie theaters in China, Italy, South Korea and other areas heavily impacted by coronavirus have been entirely or partially closed for weeks.

By Nancy Tartaglione

President Donald Trump’s 30-day European travel ban will further paralyze and isolate a film and TV industry that is frantically drawing up contingency plans for business and production.

After years behind bars, Joe Giudice is facing a different kind of lockdown.  The former Real Housewives of New Jersey reality star has been living in his native Italy since his deportation in October 2019.

By Tom Grater, Nancy Tartaglione

The impact of restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus in Europe is already being felt at the box office as Italian cinemas shut down this weekend and ticket revenues plunged. In a governmental decree issued Sunday, Italy shut down all cinemas, along with museums, shows and cultural sites, in a bid to halt the advance of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

In Italy, which is suffering the biggest coronavirus outbreak in Europe with more than 350 deaths, box office crashed to an all time low of €439.000 ($500,000) over the March 5 weekend frame. Or rather, the portion of the weekend prior to Sunday May 8.