Movie Theaters Suing State of New Jersey Due to Shutdowns
By George Robbins
There are a number of reasons as to why theaters have had it rough nowadays and over the course if the last few months. Theaters were among one of the first types of business to shut down when the pandemic first started in an attempt to keep the number of new cases down. As a part of the effort theater chains decided to keep their doors closed until the summer in an effort to both keep the number of cases down, and also save money by staying closed until new movies become available. This is what ends up leading to the next major problem which is the fact that even though some theaters are allowed to open now, there is almost no point in doing so and will only end up causing more trouble. Without the new movies to show, it is only a matter of time before they have to shut down due to low attendance.
The theater chains are having an issue as of now due to the fact that they have to maneuver their theater reopenings around movie releases and as of late the number of cases has spiked and movies have longer delays. Originally, the plan was for most theater chains to reopen some time in early-to-mid July in order to be opened when the summer movies were supposed to hit. The two big summer movies that were meant to release were ‘Tenet,’ Christopher Nolan’s newest film, and the live-action version of ‘Mulan,’ which had already been delayed from March due to the pandemic. However, as the weeks go on, it seems as though they are just getting pushed back more and more with their releases now being in mid-to late August respectively.
AMC took note of when they were pushed back and moved their reopening date to the end of July. Cinemark was originally set to reopen their theaters some time in June, but decided not to; the reason for which being backlash from a time where they said customers would not be required to wear masks as well as chasing movie releases. The last of the chains, Regal, was meant to open in the beginning of July, but they have since changed their plans, like the other companies, to reopening at the end of July instead. As stated already, the spikes in cases has resulted in movies being delayed more and more and if it keeps up, the reopening dates for those theater chains will also keep getting pushed back. On top of this, it is also up to the government of each state to allow them to reopen in the first place which many places are still not allowing.
Every state’s phased reopening plan is different and this means that some types of businesses are allowed to reopen sooner than other ones because the government feels the risk is lower for them. In New Jersey, this has resulted in the movie theater companies suing the state for forcing them to stay shut down. Even though they aren’t open anywhere else in the country, they feel that when they do reopen all of their other locations, they should be able to do so unabated by the government of New Jersey and that they have the right to be open in the state. This stems from the fact that Phase 2 reopenings recently took place in the state and among those places are shopping malls, retail stores, and places of worship. They feel that these places are just as high risk as the theaters themselves and they should be allowed to be opened when they feel the time is right. Theaters, like these other businesses, have restrictions in place following reopening and thus have a point when it comes to the risk factor in play.
Fandango has made it possible to see what the restrictions for theaters will be with new services they launched.