General views of the bronze statue of Batman on the AMC Walkway in downtown Burbank, home of Warner Bros. Studios on November 27, 2020 in Burbank, California.
AaronP / Bauer-Griffin | GC images | Getty Images
If enough Californians are vaccinated, Los Angeles theaters could reopen with limited capacity as early as Saturday, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.
To reopen, California counties must have fewer than 10 new cases per day for every 100,000 people, and the state as a whole must distribute 2 million doses of vaccine to underserved populations.
On Wednesday, Los Angeles County had just 6.9 new cases per 100,000 residents and Newsom said California is expected to reach the vaccine milestone on Friday.
“Southern California, LA, will be a big beneficiary of this new metric,” Newsom said during his daily news conference on Wednesday.
However, given the rapid turnaround, cinemas are unlikely to be able to reopen this weekend. After all, cinemas need to rehearse and retrain employees, which usually takes about a week.
Once the vaccine benchmark is reached, county officials will sign and cinemas will be allowed to operate at 25% capacity, or 100 people, whichever is less.
The possible reopening of LA comes shortly after New York sites are allowed to resume operations. The resumption of these two cities is a big step towards the recovery of the theater market. California and New York together account for 21.5% of total U.S. box office revenue each year, according to data from Comscore.
New York City accounts for nearly 24% of all New York state box office and Los Angeles accounts for about 30% of California’s box office. These cities have above average ticket prices and population density, in addition to being poles of the entertainment industry, which makes them of vital importance for the financial well-being of the sector.