Movie theater

Some 503 private theaters have shut down as of 2021, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has announced in response to the parliamentary question regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cinema and theater industry.

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" has swung back on top of the box office during a holiday weekend where American theaters aimed to lure moviegoers with discounted $3 tickets.

The number of movie halls has decreased by 11.1 percent, while the number of cinema audiences decreasing by 27.9 percent in 2021 compared to 2020, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) has said.

According to the country's official data institute, the number of cinema halls dropped from some 2,698 to some 2,398 in a year across Turkey.

The United Arab Emirates on June 13 banned the upcoming Pixar animated feature "Lightyear" from showing in movie theaters amid reports that the film includes a kiss between two female characters.

The Alkazar Movie Theater, one of Beyoğlu's symbolic venues, has reopened its doors with the new name "Hope Alkazar" on the last day of the Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival.

Speaking about the Alkazar Movie Theater and its 100-year-old history at the opening ceremony, Culture and Tourism Deputy Minister Ahmet Misbah Demircan said a very beautiful structure emerged after the restoration.

Despite concerns the delta variant would keep moviegoers at home, Ryan Reynolds' sci-fi action comedy "Free Guy" had a better-than-expected start at the domestic box office.

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Turkish movie theaters lost more than half of their audience in 2020 because of the closure of venues as a result of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The loss in audience numbers in 2020, a year that people had to stay at home, stood at 69.5 percent, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Istanbul Modern Cinema starts the first program of New Year with brand new shorts. Free of market conditions, a short film is a format that allows more exploration, and one that can exist as an independent field of research.

A historic movie theater on Istanbul's iconic İstiklal Avenue is scheduled to meet the public eye in the first months of 2021 as the ongoing restoration works at the theatre are close to completion.

The exhibition and arrangement work in the building has come to an end with the completion of the renovations, according to the daily Hürriyet.

2020 was undeniably the hardest one for culture and arts in Turkey, as it was all over the world, due to COVID-19 pandemic. The State Theaters (DT), State Opera and Ballet (DOB), the choirs affiliated with the Culture and Tourism Ministry, regional orchestras and movie theaters had to pull the plug on all their events in March when the virus was first seen in Turkey.