Since March, movie theaters across the country have remained closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but near the end of August, theaters in the United States slowly began to open back up in hopes to makeup revenue lost over the past six months.
“Safety is the first priority and then the second is, of course, to be the right cinema experience for people to spend a good two hours in the dark, to sit and forget all the crazy issues that are going on
around the world,” said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld Group, which owns Regal Cinemas, in an interview with Deadline.
Following individual state and local guidelines, theater chains such as AMC and Regal began reopening their U.S. theaters in late August each with similar new health and safety protocols.
“The protocols they are putting together are derived from advice and guidance from health authorities such as those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” said David Goldsmith, an occupational and environmental epidemiologist at George Washington University, in a video about the new health and safety protocols on the Regal Cinemas website.
New AMC and Regal safety protocols include: requiring all customers to wear face masks while in theaters (which may be removed when eating or drinking), reducing auditorium size by blocking off surrounding seats in auditoriums with reserved seating, temporarily disallowing refills on popcorn and drinks, are ensuring hand sanitizing stations readily available.
AMC and Regal theaters are also taking measures to circulate more fresh air in auditoriums by upgrading air filters in certain theaters and are staggering screening times to allow for deeper cleans of each auditorium. Click either AMC or Regal to see each chain’s individual safety procedures.
But even with all the safety protocols in place, will people still venture out to see movies as theaters reopen?
“For the longest time, ever since they closed and up until now, I’ve been wanting them to reopen, but following some sort of social distancing guideline so people don’t have to worry about possibly getting Corona, even if you have to wear a mask or something,” said Sam Stoever, a freshman graphic design major.
For many, seeing a movie during the summer is a break from the heat and provides those in small towns, who would otherwise be at home all day, with something to do.
“Especially in Summerville, where I was before Rock Hill, there’s nothing to do during Corona because everything was closed,” Stoever said. “There’s just so much not available anymore, that you’re
just stuck at home.”
While theaters have been closed over the past six months many anticipated summer blockbusters have had their release dates rescheduled for later in the year. Other scheduled releases, such as
“Mulan” and “Bill and Ted Face the Music,” have instead opted for digital home releases.
Will straight to digital releases continue to be the new normal as theaters reopen?
“I guess it’s a good idea, but at the same time if it’s a digital release and I can just wait for it to be released on Hulu or Netflix–unless I really want to see the movie–I’m probably not going to buy the digital release,” Stoever said. “The whole reason I would go to the movie theater is for the experience of a movie, because it’s completely different from watching a movie at your house, or on your phone.”
The Regal Manchester theater in Rock Hill reopened on Aug. 28, and is currently screening “The New Mutants”, “Tenet”, “The Personal History of David Copperfield” and “Unhinged.”
Photo by Olivia Esselman
