Cineworld, parent company to Regal Cinemas, will be reopening the doors to all its 787 theaters in less than a month. Following the government's COVID-19 guidelines, these theaters, along with many others, are getting ready for the onslaught of movie releases that will begin next month. Regal Cinemas is the second largest movie theater chain in the U.S., with 7,631 screen spanning across 546 locations.
In March, following the announcement that the coronavirus disease was an international pandemic, many stores and other retail checkouts, notably movie theaters, had to make the decision to indefinitely close their doors to guests. Now, with the infection rates beginning to slow, many retail locations are beginning. The pandemic has also caused issues for theaters externally - studios have had to halt production on their projects, thereby delaying the release of almost every movie so, even if theaters were to open earlier, there'd be almost nothing for them to show. It seems now, however, that at least a few movies have received firm release dates for the summer, starting in July. Pending government approval of easing restrictions and reopening, movie theaters can once again plan to reopen their doors to guests.
Cineworld Cinemas has confirmed that by July 10, all of its theaters around the world will be re-open, though operating at 50 percent capacity. Upon reopening, these theaters will have to follow a strict set of guidelines in an effort to help prevent the potential spread of the novel coronavirus and help keep the health and safety of employees and guests a priority. Along with the reopening announcement, they also highlighted some of the new restrictions that Cineworld/Regal will be putting in place in order to make health and safety their top concern. Most notably, after every screening, employees will provide each theater with a deep cleaning using ULV Foggers, which provide a highly effective form of deep sanitation, according to Cineworld. To help enforce social distancing, two seats will be left open in-between guests, every other register will remain closed and many self-service stations will be closed to reduce high traffic areas, and they will be operating with a reduced menu.
Even with an increasing amount of companies recently releasing many of their films straight to video on demand such as Universal, Cineworld/Regal still remain eager to open their doors to moviegoers early next month. "We are thrilled to be back and encouraged by recent surveys that show that many people have missed going to the movie theater," Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger said in a statement. The theaters will be opening at a strong time as summer movies are bound to aid in their recovery. Cineworld Cinemas already has scheduled viewings of many high profile movies such as Disney's Mulan, Christopher Nolan's Tenet, and Warner Bros' Wonder Woman 1984, the first two of which will be opening the same month as the theaters themselves.
As with the reopening of any business with the current state of the world, there should be concerns about the health and safety of the employees and the general public who will be visiting said business. With cases at a current standstill and slowly beginning to rise again as many around the country begin to become more lax when it comes to measures against the virus, there is concern about a very likely second wave of the virus.
Even still, many businesses, such as movie theaters are going forward with the the reopening anyway, so long as they receive proper government approval. However, even with the strict set of guidelines, it is up to the individual locations and staff to actually enforce them. Regal Cinemas were the first to close in the U.S., and after they suspended dividend payments to help cushion the blow from COVID-19, they need to reopen so as to make up for the last two months of lost earnings.
Source: Cineworld/Regal Cinemas