Entertainment

THEATERS REOPENING: cleaning protocols and social distancing

On March 8, I went to a Sunday evening showing of “Onward,” a fun, familyfriendly adventure about two brothers who use magic to spend one more day with their deceased wizard father. At that time, theaters had not shut down and social distancing had just arrived. I was able to buy a ticket and purchase concessions as I normally would, but I noticed the crowd was significantly lighter than usual, especially for a Pixar movie. A few days later, movie theaters across the country closed their doors, including the Regal Cinema location that I had visited. It made sense because auditoriums have never been places where moviegoers can socially distance. That is especially true if you are sitting in an aisle seat and people must squeeze by you to get to the lobby. Ticket lines for hot releases were never a place to stand six feet apart either. As a fan who loves movie theaters, the shutdown has been difficult. I watch a lot of movies at home, but nothing compares to viewing them in theaters. That is why I was happy to see

BY STEVE BRYAN

that chains such as Regal and AMC Theaters will begin reopening locations in July. Despite my enthusiasm, I still have some concerns about the safeguards and procedures that will be put into place. Will these be enough to keep everyone safe? Planning to reopen their theaters by July 10, Regal Cinemas outlined their new safety procedures on their website. Contactless payments have become more common, and the theater chain has made it possible to purchase both tickets and concessions through their mobile app. Within the auditoriums, they plan to use ULV (Ultra Low Volume) foggers to sanitize all the seats. The process is non-toxic and reported to be fast drying. As CNN Business reported, AMC Theaters, another notable chain, also is planning a mid-July reopening of their locations. Their focus is keeping their customers and staff safe by following local, national and international guidelines (AMC is owned by the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group.) The CNN piece also mentioned that AMC is working with Clorox on their inhouse cleaning protocols. The timing here is tied to what is left of the summer movie season. Under normal circumstances, potential blockbusters films would have arrived followed by a new batch for the July 4 weekend. Since theaters were closed over Memorial Day weekend, it is important that the chains take advantage of the July releases of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” and Disney’s live action adaptation of “Mulan.” With theater capacity potentially cut in half, some of the chains may show the new releases in as many as four auditoriums at a time. That means those who want to come back to see the new films should have a chance to do so. If the cleaning protocols are as advertised, the theater experience should be relatively safe as well.