The move by the company, which was acquired by toy giant Hasbro in December, is not a response to COVID-19,understands. Rather it was a commercial decision based on the intense competitiveness of the German theatrical market, and the difficulty in acquiring movies – in particular, local movies – for the territory at the right price.
The company is still working on the exact timeline of the closure of its Munich office, as it is in discussions with its partners on the details of the withdrawal. It will now have to decide whether to distribute its movies through a partner in the territory or release them with various distributors.