Los Angeles cinemas may reopen with 25 percent capacity next week, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (via Variety) The restrictions are being lifted, almost exactly a year after they were put in place, because Los Angeles County believes it will reach the number of vaccines required by California to move on to the next phase of reopening. The reopening of the cinema capital theater takes place a few weeks after New York, which means that two of the biggest cinema markets will again be destroying their projectors.
How Variety observations, this does not mean that cinemas will be able to open once the ban is lifted – they have been closed for so long that they will have to rehearse and train the team, which can take a week or two. Theaters will also have to ensure that they meet the safety and cleanliness requirements of California and will have to establish a reservation system, if they do not already have it – any reopening of the theater will be necessary for viewers to reserve their seats in advance. Participants must also wear masks and the groups must be separated by at least two meters.
Theaters will also have to find out which films to show (an important part of the cinema experience), since most major releases have been postponed to the second half of the year.
The future looked bleak for cinemas in October, with many movie theaters closing all of their locations in the United States and the United Kingdom, some permanently. The picture has become clearer since then, with the arrival of vaccines, and AMC said yesterday that it believes it will be able to withstand the storm until most Americans are able to see the films again. It remains to be seen whether the public will return to the cinema, as some of the most anticipated films of the year will be released side by side in streaming.