The Malaysian Association of Film Exhibitors (MAFE) has decided to temporarily suspend operations at all cinemas across Malaysia.

MAFE explained in a statement that the move is a response to an increasingly challenging landscape for cinemas amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The statement read, "As an industry, we believe it to be a necessary step for the long term preservation of Malaysian cinemas, so we can continue our role of contributing to the social, economic, and cultural fabric of our nation in the long run."

The movie theatres will be closed until further notice

"We will continue to monitor the situation and react accordingly as market conditions improve," MAFE assured.

The cinema industry has taken a hit due to the pandemic suffering revenue losses of up to 90% year-on-year.

Golden Screen Cinemas’ CEO Koh Mei Lee told StarLifestyle: “The industry is incurring losses of RM1.3mil a day, which translates to a total of loss of RM475mil in 2020, compared with a profit of RM102mil in 2019."

Mohit Bhargava, the general manager of sales and marketing for TGV Cinemas agreed: "Since cinemas reopened on July 1 after a full three-month closure, we have already endured deep revenue losses over that period.

"The industry had shown some signs of recovery, but the most recent conditional MCO put a major strain on our operations.

He added: "Closing and reopening businesses like cinemas is extremely cumbersome, costly, and disruptive to our industry, suppliers and customers.

Reference Links -
[1] SAYS
[2] The Star