U.S. Movie Theaters To Begin Opening with Gradual Rollout
U.S. movie theaters are set to begin opening within the next month with a gradual rollout. Some independent chains have already opened in certain states with varying degrees of success. AMC, the world's largest movie theater chain, announced that almost all of their U.S. and UK theaters will reopen in July. Regal Cinemas and Cinemark will be revealing their exact plans to reopen soon, but both companies have already noted they expect to be up and running in July.
In California, movie theaters will be able to open June 12th with 25% capacity and checkerboard style seating. They will also be required to have employees wear face masks, significantly increase their cleaning routine and offer contactless options for concessions. California Department of Health states that they will work with and monitor movie theaters to ensure a safe environment for both customers and theater employees. Other states and cities have varying but similar rules for reopening. For a truly successful - and viable - film release though, studios will need New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco - the countries three biggest movie going markets.
While the Summer blockbuster season will be half over by the time most of the theaters in the country reopen, all sights are now set on Tenet. The upcoming Christopher Nolan time travel epic is a $200 million dollar film, which would easily be expected to hit $1 billion in box office cash in any normal year. As we know, 2020 is not any normal year. As of now, Tenet is schedule to open on July 17th, with Disney's Mulan remake scheduled the following week. In the meantime, theaters will be showing classic blockbusters like Jaws, E.T. and all 8 Harry Potter movies to ease people back into movie theaters.
What do you think? Will you head back to the movies in July? When do you expect to see a movie in a theater? Talk to me in the comments!
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