Just as France is entering into a state of lock-down in an attempt to combat the spread of Coronavirus, the encrypted channel Canal+ decided, yesterday, to unscramble all of its programmes; that is, to make them available, free of charge (until 31 March, for now), to all those in possession of boxes in France. Monday evening, for example, the channel broadcast episodes 3 and 4 of the Italian series ZeroZeroZero [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda series] (8 x 52 mn), based upon the book ZeroZeroZero: Look at cocaine and all you see is powder. Look through cocaine and you see the world by Roberto Saviano (the author of Gomorrah, the film adaptation of which scooped Cannes’ Grand Prix in 2008, among others, and whose later book formed the basis of last year’s Best Screenplay Silver Bear winner in Berlin, Piranhas [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Roberto Saviano
scheda film]).

Those already subscribed to the network, meanwhile, will enjoy wider access to almost all content falling under the Cinema, Series, Youth and Documentaries categories; in other words, the channels OCS, Ciné+, Serieclub, Polar+, Warner TV, Disney Channel, Planète+, Nickelodeon, Olympia TV, Comedy Central, Voyages, National Geographic, MTV, Eurosport and Automoto. Only Netflix and beIN Sport are excluded from this offer.

A stalwart in the funding of cinematic productions, but also highly invested in series-based offerings, the Canal+ group has now decked out its logo in blue, white and red, definitively linking this provision of free services to a spirit of national solidarity. That said, a storm is already brewing since the company’s decision to make its services available to all, free of charge, flies in the face of media chronology rules in France which govern the order and timings of film distribution across the various media services.