As movie theaters in the U.S. begin to reopen, distributors and exhibitors hope to draw audiences back to the screen with promises of enhanced security, must-see movies – and a personal welcome from the stars.
Liam Neeson will personally greet moviegoers who are going to see his latest action thriller, The Marksman, at AMC Lincoln Square on New York’s Upper West Side, before the screenings on Friday.
“This is for the diary,” Neeson told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this week. “It will be good to receive people. I think going to the cinema is a bit of a sacred experience. I have felt this way since I was a child. “
Neeson, 68, also confirmed that he received his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
New York is the second largest market for filmmakers in the United States, after Los Angeles, where cinemas remain closed. Recently, San Francisco screens have been allowed to reopen with other cities on the west coast, but are believed not to be far behind.
New York cinemas will be limited to 25% capacity, with a maximum of 50 people in each screening room.
“The reopening of New York is a strong symbolic gesture for audiences going to the theater that it’s okay to put your toe in the water,” said Tom Ortenberg, head of Open Road / Briarcliff, who is distributing The Marksman to us United States.
The film opened in several territories around the world in January, where it has cost $ 16.4 million to date.
In a survey released on Thursday, the US National Research Group suggested that the cinephile’s confidence is now at its highest level since last summer. Studios are capitalizing on that sentiment, with a number anticipating planned release dates after a year of postponements.
The Peter Rabbit sequel, originally scheduled for release in February 2020, changed to May 14, 2021 from June 11, 2021, while the continuation of A Quiet Place, which had been set for March 2020, has moved forward from this September to May 31.
AMC is the largest cinema chain in the United States. All of its 13 locations in New York will reopen on March 5, with the Regal chain, which is owned by Cineworld, which will open in April.
Plans for the reopening of cinema in the UK remain dependent on the blockade script, remaining unchanged. But the current orientation means that closed cinemas in England would be allowed to reopen from 17 May, while open-air cinemas would be allowed from 12 April.
Currently, there is no date for the reopening of cinemas in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.