The affair begins a few days before the arrival of “The Devil” on the screens. Several local cinema managers learned that the distributor, Disney (1), plans to release the feature film on around 500 copies. A rather weak system for this type of large production, generally “bombarded” on 700 copies or more. Consequence: they themselves will not be entitled to the film during the first two weeks of exploitation.
« Distorsion de concurrence »
How can we explain this unusual strategy? They suspect a tacit understanding with the major circuits having had the first glimpse of the film. “When we look at this strange release plan, with 25% fewer screens than usual, when we see that we are being refused it even though it is widely shown in multiplexes, there is reason to wonder,” notes François Aymé, director of Jean-Eustache in Pessac (33).
François Aymé, director of the Jean-Eustache de Pessac cinema. SO
His colleague Jean Villa, president of the Union of Local Cinemas, and of the Véo cinema network, 21 theaters including La dolce vita in Andernos (33) or Cinévals in Saint-Jean-d’Angély (17), adds: “We have no proof, especially since these negotiations can be done orally. No distributor will say they received pressure. But we see concrete changes: feature films that are no longer given to us and which are shown in multiplexes.”
No evidence on “The Devil”, but a document supports the hypothesis of an offensive by a multiplex chain. In an email sent on March 3 to all distributors, brought to the attention of “Sud Ouest”, the head of programming at Megarama presents five Ile-de-France cinemas as “municipal establishments generating a distortion of competition”, and invites distributors to “Take these elements into account before discussing your next outings.”
“Distortion of competition”? The head of programming at Megarama did not wish to answer our questions, but the argument is known: the major circuits judge that local cinemas capture part of their clientele thanks to advantageous prices, made possible by the subsidies paid to them by the communities. Unfair competition, they deplore.
Multiplex managers are all the more worried as their establishments are the first victims of the decline in attendance in recent years. According to a study conducted in 2025 by the Hexacom firm, they suffered a drop of almost 26% in the number of admissions between 2019 and 2024, while independent cinemas are more resilient. But the study, by analyzing situations in several cities, notes this decline whatever the offer in local cinemas, and concludes that it is due to “other factors”, in particular “competition from streaming”, and “the running out of steam of a model”.
Pétition
“To resist the platforms, to offer another, more human experience, we need added value in terms of mediation, reception, events, links… Multiplexes, with many rooms, more automated management, correspond less to this expectation,” believes François Aymé.
As for community aid, Cédric Favard, who manages the Gironde cinemas of Blanquefort and Cestas, specifies: “These are balancing subsidies, within the framework of public service delegations. They make it possible to maintain small theaters in municipalities, and to respect certain criteria set by the communities, such as affordable prices, and an editorial policy based on a diversity of films.
Local cinemas have just launched a petition “for the defense of (their) access to films”. Seized by the president of the National Cinema Center, Gaétan Bruel, the cinema mediator, Laurence Franceschini, has, without ruling on the case of “The Devil Wears Prada”, ordered Megarama to put an end to these “practices”, in reference to the email sent by the company programmer.
