Dont Tell NetflixDont Tell Netflix

By George Robbins

Movie theaters have had a rough go of things recently due to only just opening their doors back up to the public. This doesn’t help them nearly as much as they hope it would though, because there have been a number of setbacks in the movie industry as of late due to spikes in virus cases. Many films that had release dates set for the summer or some time later this year have had their theatrical release dates pushed back to allow for more time for the virus to die down. The massive increase in new cases has made it all the more difficult for many businesses to actually get people to come back in, especially theaters. Not only do theaters have no new content to show viewers due to delays, but they also have restrictions that limit the number of people who can come into the theaters.

Not too long ago, to try and help out the movie theater industry, Fandango launched a few new services to help people figure out where they can go and even buy tickets digitally and hands free. This service essentially gave people the chance to find out what theaters would be opened up near them to allow them the chance to get out of the house. Most theaters will end up remaining shut down though because they have no new content to show the public and this is how they usually bring people in. The two movies that were meant to release in July to help ease theaters’ financial trouble were both delayed. Christopher Nolan’s new film ‘Tenet’ was meant to release on July 17th, around the time that many theaters were supposed to have opened by, but is now set for a July 31st release. Also, Disney’s live action remake of ‘Mulan’ was meant to release on July 24th, but has now been delayed to August 21st.

These pushes for the delays have caused a great deal of grief for already struggling theaters that have been trying to get business by showing older films. For theaters that are still shut down, they are suffering as well but not quite as badly as the ones that decided to open before they had new content to show. All of the major movie theater chains such as Cinemark, Regal, and AMC have had their sights set on reopening by the end of June or by mid-July, but this has become a difficult task. Cinemark originally planned to start opening theaters nationwide starting June 19th, but that plan seems to have gone to the wayside in lieu of recent events. With the virus spreading again so quickly and movie release dates being pushed back, theaters have had no choice but to delay their openings even more.

Originally, AMC theaters were planning to reopen their doors by mid-July because this was around the time that new movies were supposed to release. Now that the flagship summer movies have been pushed back by a couple of weeks to a month each, they will also be pushing their door opening date by a couple of weeks. Even though they plan on reopening two weeks later than originally planned, there is no guarantee that they will end up opening on time. At this point, all of the reopening plans are hit or miss and many businesses are being forced to close up again amidst rises in coronavirus cases. Hopefully things end up working out over the course of the next few weeks or we may never get an actual date for when we can go back to theaters. At this point, just like everything else at the moment, it is a hit or miss situation that can change on a daily basis so we just have to keep our fingers crossed.