As has been reported recently, Georgia, along with some select other states, is expected to begin to reopen non-essential businesses as early as next week. And with that, cinemas in those states will be given the go-ahead to open their doors. However, according to the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), don’t expect the theatrical distribution business to just recover that quickly.
“While some states and localities are beginning to authorize the opening of movie theaters under certain conditions, the movie theater industry is also a national one,” said NATO in a statement (via Deadline). “Until the majority of markets in the U.S. are open, and major markets in particular, new wide release movies are unlikely to be available. As a result, some theaters in some areas that are authorized to open may be able economically to reopen with repertory product; however, many theaters will not be able to feasibly open.”
This statement comes on the heels of the US Government’s highly-publicized plan to reopen the businesses that have been shut down due to the global pandemic. As states begin to pass certain milestones, they’ll begin to enter subsequent “phases” of reopening, with Phase 1 including movie theaters. However, those phases still include social distancing recommendations and each state has to qualify separately. All that to say, it’ll be a while before theaters in New York City and Los Angeles will be ready to open, even with reduced occupancies, while states like Georgia seem ready to go next week.
With that in mind, the major theater chains in the US—AMC, Regal, and Cinemark—are still weeks away from considering opening their doors again. AMC has publicly said that June 1 is the tentative date to reopen, while Cinemark has targeted July 1. Regal, on the other hand, hasn’t made a reopening date known to the public.
But in a new statement, Regal did open up about its plan to open its doors once again:
“At this time, we have not made a decision when to reopen Regal theatres. We are constantly following the information provided by authorities. In order to open our theatres, at first we will need to ensure the safety of our guests and employees. At the same time, we are working closely with our studio partners on when they will make their movies available. We will continue to work with both authorities and the studios in order to host our audiences and show them the big blockbusters in a safe environment.”
So, as it’s been clearly noted by NATO, it appears that just because theaters can reopen, possibly as early as next week, it doesn’t appear that many actually will. The question that still lingers over the entire discussion is whether or not the summer movie season can be saved at all, or if film fans are looking at the fall for the first wave of new releases.