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When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on August 3 that proof of COVID-19 vaccination would be required for indoor activities – including theaters – theater owners remained silent.
Behind the scenes, the National Association of Theater Owners began consulting with its members. An alarming increase in cases in many parts of the country due to the delta variant has disrupted the box office recovery, with half of the US population still unvaccinated.
NATO has decided not to take a position on the impending New York City ordinance anyway and will not oppose it. It also doesn’t try to block the proposed LA rule.
“For the exhibition industry to fully recover, we need more people to be vaccinated. It is pure science. The shot rates were pretty good for a while in the United States and then they plummeted. We need them to continue, ”said John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners. The Hollywood reporter.
” Do not mistake yourself. There are going to be some lost ticket sales in the short term, ”continues Fithian. “Working on how we implement it and how we deal with the economics is a challenge, but we’re not going to oppose it because people have to get vaccinated. “
This will result in more consumers feeling comfortable going out and back to the movies, he says.
The New York program begins rolling out in mid-August before officially going into effect on September 13. Los Angeles City Council has said it will consider a similar ordinance.
Comfort levels for movies have dropped significantly in recent weeks in the United States, according to the National Research Group, as cases of delta variants increase. The comfort level was at a better 81 percent of the pandemic era on July 11; on Monday it was 67 percent. The impact is felt at the box office.
Last weekend, Warner Bros. ‘ DC tent pole The suicide squad came in short of expectations – which weren’t high in the first place – with an estimated nationwide opening of $ 26.5 million. A month ago, the box office recovery was quite advanced for Disney and Marvel’s Black Widow to open up to $ 80 million nationally.
NATO represents hundreds of theater companies, including all the major chains.
In the meantime, NATO is working with New York City officials to try to figure out exactly what the new rule will mean, including exemptions, such as children under 12, who are not yet allowed to get a COVID-19 vaccine. De Blasio indicated last week that these young people will be.
“We are not going to exclude the under 12s,” de Blasio said last week. “We want them to be safe, we want them to be careful. The ultimate goal of doing this is to give people the ultimate incentive to get vaccinated if they are eligible. “
“This is good news,” says Fithian. “But there are other problems. If you have had COVID recently and therefore are immune at the moment, is this eligible? There are a bunch of implementation questions. We want to make sure it is executed fairly.
Several Hollywood studio executives said THR they also believe that proof of vaccine requirements is a positive step. “Personally, I would feel better to go to the movies myself,” says one executive.
Los Angeles and New York are the two biggest box office markets in the country.
France has become in recent weeks the first country to implement a vaccination rule for indoor sites. Sales of cinema tickets have fallen sharply. However, the vaccination rate is increasing (there were also general protests against the mandate).
“It should never have been true that getting vaccinated against a contagious disease is a political statement, but it is, both in this country and around the world,” said Fithian.
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