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After about a year of closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, beleaguered Los Angeles theaters are aiming to open next week, with several spots looking to reopen on Monday.
AMC Theaters, the world’s largest movie theater chain, announced that two of its largest Los Angeles area venues – AMC Burbank 16 and AMC Century City 15 – will open Monday afternoon. AMC’s remaining 23 Los Angeles County theaters will be ready to reopen on March 19, the Leawood, Kan-based exhibitor said on Friday.
Plano, Texas-based Cinemark said its Long Beach site would resume showing films on Saturday. Nationwide Channel 3 said other Los Angeles County theaters will begin reopening on Monday.
Theater circuits are in desperate need of reopening in Los Angeles, Hollywood’s biggest box office market.
The rush to start selling tickets again comes after theaters got the go-ahead from state and county officials to finally resume operations.
Los Angeles County on Thursday paved the way for businesses such as theaters, indoor dining rooms and gyms next week with strict capacity limits and other restrictions such as wearing masks.
Theaters in counties listed in California’s second most restrictive reopening level – the red level – can open indoor auditoriums at 25% capacity with reserved seating and at least six feet apart in all directions between all groups. Counties that fall into the least restrictive orange level can move up to 50% of their capacity.
Los Angeles County became eligible for reopening when the state reached its goal of administering 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to residents of its most disadvantaged areas. By removing that bar, the state relaxed the threshold for counties, including Los Angeles, from the most restrictive purple level to the least restrictive red level.
Regal – the nation’s No.2 channel – did not immediately provide an update on when its Los Angeles theaters could open. Regal, which is owned by Cineworld, closed its U.S. locations in October after briefly reopening due to lack of new films and low attendance.
Small chains may take longer to get back into business. Local operators spent much of Thursday trying to determine when they could go ahead with operations after county officials gave the green light. Larger circuits have brought in workers in preparation for the opening of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles-based arthouse circuit Laemmle Theaters has set a schedule to reopen in four to five weeks, as the company recalls general managers, who will then need to rehire and retrain staff to new health protocols and of security. For example, Laemmle, which has seven locations, did not use reserve seats before the outbreak of the pandemic, but must now do so due to security requirements.
As large chains with a national footprint have started working on their reopening protocols in less stringent states such as Texas, Laemmle, which operates entirely in Southern California, will be starting from scratch.
“They have the advantage of having done this in other markets, so they know what the process is,” said Greg Laemmle, President of Laemmle Theaters. “We want to welcome the public again as quickly as possible, but we want to be able to do so in a safe and orderly manner.”
Hollywood studios have delayed their biggest blockbusters until they are convinced Los Angeles theaters can reopen. The industry got a boost last week when New York City, another huge market for theaters, opened its theaters, also after a year of shutdowns. The New York release has increased confidence that great films could be released in the months to come.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said this week that Marvel’s “Black Widow” is still “currently” slated for May 7, and Universal Pictures’ “F9” is slated for release on June 25.
Analysts said studios would be more likely to stick to current release plans if Los Angeles and New York increased production capacity to 50% in the coming weeks.
Extended shutdowns and the lack of new Hollywood blockbusters have strained the finances of American theater chains, with some filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, including Alamo Drafthouse in Texas.
AMC, which saw its stock rise thanks in part to interest from retail investors inspired by the Reddit forums, said on Wednesday that its losses stood at $ 4.6 billion in 2020.
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