Regal Cinemas announced that it will reopen US theaters on April 2 with the release of Warner Bros. ‘ Godzilla vs. Kong, Deadline reported. This will be followed on April 16 with New Line’s Mortal combat. Cineworld, the network’s father, also struck a deal with Warner Bros. to showcase their 2021 releases at the same time they are released on HBO Max. Starting in 2022, Cineworld will have a 45-day exclusivity window before titles are released on streaming services.
Warner Bros. he had already announced that he would be launching new films simultaneously on HBO Max and on cinema networks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eliminating the window of exclusivity that cinemas usually have. This prompted AMC, the main theater chain in the United States, to punish the studio, although Regal made a more restrained statement at the time. Warner Bros. he later clarified that he would launch his line of films for 2023 first in theaters, but he had said nothing about the films scheduled for 2022 so far.
In Cineworld’s second largest market, the United Kingdom, Warner Bros. agreed to an exclusive 31-day showcase when cinemas open in May. That would extend to 45 days for films that achieved combined box office revenue.
“We are very happy with the agreement with Warner Bros. This agreement shows the studio’s commitment to the theater industry and we see this agreement as an important milestone in our 100-year relationship with Warner Bros.,” said the CEO of Cineworld, Mooky Greidinger Variety in a statement.
With the coronavirus pandemic, Cineworld closed 536 Regal cinemas in the USA and 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse halls in the United Kingdom. He temporarily opened some cinemas at the end of last year, but closed them quickly when the number of infections increased. Now, with vaccination levels of around 25% in the United States and more than 50% in the United Kingdom, cinemas are hoping that the reopenings will happen soon and be permanent.