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Child Item

Going to the Cinema during Covid

Bacchus

I didn't want to name Coronavirus specifically in the thread but yeah, with increasing calls and measures being put in place around the world to avoid events and large gatherings... surely this sentiment will filter down to making cinema trips.

Before anyone jumps in with "people are dying, who cares about cinema", yes, the impact on cinema is way down the list of things to be concerned about but I'm just curious about what the impact will be.

Globally, there must be a visible decline in bums on seats. Even the tentpole Spring/Summer blockbusters must revising their predicted box offices with the prospect of a prolonged epidemic.

At a personal level, will it cause you to maybe reconsider this weeks trip to the cinema? For me, I go maybe once every two months. I've no intention of going to the cinema though until this all settles down and is contained.

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ixoy

I can only see myself trying it for a couple of films maybe - 'Tenet' and 'Dune' right now which will likely beg to be seen on a big screen.

I will be curious to see how it's monitored - will staff be coming in to ensure people are sitting in their assigned seats for example.
How clean they're being maintained - which will vary with the cinema - will be a thing too, although since I don't intend to touch many surfaces that won't be a big issue.

As to the risk - well if nobody is beside you, it is next to negligible as otherwise, no restaurant could operate which will have similar spacing criteria. I've seen no reports of spikes related to cinemas elsewhere yet (other countries will have cinemas with precautions in place). You can take sensible precautions without locking yourself in at home permanently.

iguana

I'll be going to some kids' movie with my 7 year old. But I'm 99.9% sure I had Covid and about 95% sure my son did too. I'd caution against being dismissive of the virus though. I'm not exaggerating when say I was an extremely fit 41 year old and this thing took me out for 12 weeks. I'm not quite fully recovered yet as too much exercise (a tiny amount to the me of early March) tends to trigger a relapse of my post-viral conditions and I still need daily anti-inflammatories and proton pump inhibitors. And when I am recovered, it will take a while to bring my fitness and strength back to where I was. It's not deadly to younger people but it's very frustrating and boring.

IrishJedi75

I really want to see Wonder Woman 1984 as i loved the first movie.This one has been delayed so much already so i hope its not pushed back again.How Tenet performs will be the barometer of course.

Ohmeha

Like with the shops reopening now I will wait 3/4 weeks and see how cinemas reopen with effective social distancing before deciding if I feel comfortable to return, I have parents just at cocooning age and I have a mild underlying condition myself. My cineworld annual subscription expires in July so they will extend for extra 4 months that I lost out since March but no refund if I don't want to use again

Technocentral

Fred Cryton wrote: »

There's pretty much zero risk of dying from Covid if you're under 65 and without underlying health conditions.

You might as well ask should you cross the street tomorrow in case you get hit by a car. Yeah, there's a risk you will but you'll do it anyway.

Life is about risks.

Complete ignorance, you need to educate yourself, a huge number of people in their early 40s and 50s who didn't need ICU being completely fcuked up by Covid 19.

Sad Professor

The reopening of cinemas has been brought forward to June 29th.

[Deleted User]

Technocentral wrote: »

Complete ignorance, you need to educate yourself, a huge number of people in their early 40s and 50s who didn't need ICU being completely fcuked up by Covid 19.

To be fair, he said there's "almost zero" chance of dying not actually zero chance. It's true for a healthy person in that age bracket. Needing ICU doesn't mean you died.

At present I'm not crazy for any movie coming out but I do want to leave the house being just work and shopping. I'll probably try bowling, etc first and just see how it works out

branie2

Great news

titan18

Nothing out until Mulan so just going to be older films being shown if they open up. Wouldn't surprise me if Mulan and Tenet are pushed into August too based on how things are going in the US.

[Deleted User]

Irishphotodesk wrote:

People are already ignoring social distance guidelines... People will goto the cinema.

I wouldn't have a problem going to a morning showing. You'd usually have the place to yourself anyway. Night time showings are a different matter.

CastorTroy

Does this mean there'll be no one kicking your seat and putting their feet on your arm rest? Crazy talk.
They would need to be constantly monitored, at least for the first 15 mins of the film.
My local cinema doesn't use assigned seating but that would probably have to change.

And as was pointed out about other businesses, will they increase ticket/food prices to offset loss of custom? Like what percentage of seats will they be allowed to sell?
Though increasing prices would reduce customer numbers even more

iguana

Have any cinema groups actually made an announcement about opening? And if they do will they be showing anything new as not too many studios will be keen to release a movie to the kind of limited audience social distancing demands.

Ohmeha

If they're not re-opening on June 29th it probably won't be too much longer after that, some of our large cinema chains are likely to re-open when their counterpart chains in the UK can re-open from July 4th

This article details the status of some of the UK chains

https://www.thesun.ie/news/5566198/when-will-cinemas-open-uk-vue-cineworld-odeon/

Telecaster58

Cinemas are due to re-open next Monday. I've just looked at a few of the sites and none of them seem to be aware of this. I would have thought that the cinemas would have had contingency plans for re-opening in July which can now be moved forward to next week. This is very disappointing, particularly from The Lighthouse and IFI. I renewed my subscription for The Lighthouse just before the shutdown and my IFI membership expired in April. All I've heard from them are requests to renew my membership, nothing about when they might actually show some films.

pixelburp

I suppose just because cinemas can open, doesn't mean they will. Not least because until they have something big enough to offset the losses of reduced capacity and sales of overpriced snacks, it won't be worth opening. Cinemas were probably already losing money on the non-blockbuster screenings. So it's kinda up to the studios as to when they release Wonder Woman 84, Tenet, Fast & Furious 9, and others. Or the various B Tier material.

johnny_ultimate

TBH cinemas were told for a few weeks they were allowed open on July 20th, having been told for weeks that it’d actually be August, and then on a Friday night were told ‘actually you can open in a week’. No surprise the cinemas were caught a bit off guard and aren’t quite sure yet when they might be ready to go.

All of these cinemas are reliant on the UK for films - Cineworld and the like obviously through their parent companies, but IFI and Light House too as they’re tied to release dates set by UK distributors. Lots of logistics to figure out before you can reopen - revised booking systems, screen layouts, programming, phased screenings, staffing, health & safety / social distancing measures etc... These things may be / are all be eminently manageable, but condensing a four week plan into seven days is always going to be tricky for any business. I’ll sure they’ll reopen shortly, but can’t begrudge any of them for wanting to be certain before they announce a definitive date.

As an aside, I’m hoping there’s a few weeks’ buffer where cinemas are able to screen more unusual fare to fill up screens. While I’m sure a lot will just screen Tenet in more screens to make up numbers, there’s a good opportunity for the likes of retrospectives, seasons and smaller releases in the window between cinemas reopening and the blockbusters arriving.

CastorTroy

Does this mean we'll finally see New Mutants?

dublinman1990

WB have said a while ago that Wonder Woman 1984 has already been pushed back again to October. That is good news for me because I would probably not want to go back into the cinema that quickly with all of the restrictions currently in place if they are to re-open from Monday. That doesn't mean that I will take any chances though. I would prefer to be leaving out the cinema trips for a while right up until this pandemic is officially over. It's too much of a risk for me at the moment.

sheepsh4gger

pixelburp wrote: »

I suppose just because cinemas can open, doesn't mean they will. Not least because until they have something big enough to offset the losses of reduced capacity and sales of overpriced snacks, it won't be worth opening. Cinemas were probably already losing money on the non-blockbuster screenings. So it's kinda up to the studios as to when they release Wonder Woman 84, Tenet, Fast & Furious 9, and others. Or the various B Tier material.

That's what I think also.

Firstly I think they are blind-sighted by the government announcing this last minute.

Secondly it looks like just politicians playing PR games as only 50 customers are allowed at a time. Maybe for a country cinema with 2 screens that will work.

This is an interesting time we live in. They might reopen some of the old train lines now that everyone is moving out of the suburbs into the country to not live like a prisoner.

But really I wonder if they will bother reopening at all. They rely on volume and if you can't get x number of people then you're probably just burning money. Also all of the employees probably already found better jobs at Tesco so it's going to be a cold start.

Finally the second wave in fall will likely derail any reopening efforts. October/November I think will be lost. The hospitals need to deal with surge capacity. They will have the regular surge from influenza and on top of that need to deal with a second wave of COVID.

That makes me wonder whether there's a point in re-opening for 2-3 months. Also who wants to deal with the stigma getting shut down because of infections? If you look at news from China and Korea these places are a hot spot for infections.

The distancing doesn't really make sense. You're in a closed space with recirculated air.

1o059k7ewrqj3n

Have a pass to Odeon cinemas and regularly went before Lockdown. Would love to go again when they reopen and will wear a mask or whatever is required but I reckon the cinema will be far busier when it reopens so might give it a week or two before going in.

Telecaster58

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

TBH cinemas were told for a few weeks they were allowed open on July 20th, having been told for weeks that it’d actually be August, and then on a Friday night were told ‘actually you can open in a week’. No surprise the cinemas were caught a bit off guard and aren’t quite sure yet when they might be ready to go.

All of these cinemas are reliant on the UK for films - Cineworld and the like obviously through their parent companies, but IFI and Light House too as they’re tied to release dates set by UK distributors. Lots of logistics to figure out before you can reopen - revised booking systems, screen layouts, programming, phased screenings, staffing, health & safety / social distancing measures etc... These things may be / are all be eminently manageable, but condensing a four week plan into seven days is always going to be tricky for any business. I’ll sure they’ll reopen shortly, but can’t begrudge any of them for wanting to be certain before they announce a definitive date.

As an aside, I’m hoping there’s a few weeks’ buffer where cinemas are able to screen more unusual fare to fill up screens. While I’m sure a lot will just screen Tenet in more screens to make up numbers, there’s a good opportunity for the likes of retrospectives, seasons and smaller releases in the window between cinemas reopening and the blockbusters arriving.

I accept your point concerning release dates of films but as some of the chain cinemas have already stated they were going to start showing some "old favourites" that isn't really a problem. As for the issues highlighted in your piece this has been on the cards for weeks and everyone knows that regardless of when cinemas reopen these protocols were going to be in place. Moving it up a couple of weeks should not have caught them by surprise. Hairdressers for example have had their protocols in place and were clamouring for a reopening date much earlier. No reasons why cinemas shouldn't be "good to go".

stesaurus

Looks like my local Movies@ is opening Monday. Nothing on their site regarding instructions or how they'll operate. Movies seem to be a mix of what was out pre-lockdown and Harry Potter/Twilight.
I'll give it a miss for a while until something worthwhile is out

pixelburp

I suppose if I were to open a cinema come Monday, without an actual schedule of new films I'd be inclined towards crowdpleasers that might get exasperated families through the doors for a day out. No more than the McDonalds drive-throughs who were inundated with families desperate to give the kids a treat & some entertainment. Harry Potter's a good choice on that front.

titan18

Telecaster58 wrote: »

I accept your point concerning release dates of films but as some of the chain cinemas have already stated they were going to start showing some "old favourites" that isn't really a problem. As for the issues highlighted in your piece this has been on the cards for weeks and everyone knows that regardless of when cinemas reopen these protocols were going to be in place. Moving it up a couple of weeks should not have caught them by surprise. Hairdressers for example have had their protocols in place and were clamouring for a reopening date much earlier. No reasons why cinemas shouldn't be "good to go".

Hairdressers know they'll have business though. I can't imagine many cinemas really care about opening when there's no films to show. Omniplex are hinting at Star Wars but until Mulan and Tenet come out, I'd say it'll be half empty even on peak nights.

Banjaxed82

CastorTroy wrote: »

Does this mean there'll be no one kicking your seat and putting their feet on your arm rest? Crazy talk.
They would need to be constantly monitored, at least for the first 15 mins of the film.
My local cinema doesn't use assigned seating but that would probably have to change.

And as was pointed out about other businesses, will they increase ticket/food prices to offset loss of custom? Like what percentage of seats will they be allowed to sell?
Though increasing prices would reduce customer numbers even more

I think they may has an issue with food. Very rarely do I get food at the cinema. I bring my own due to expense and couldn't be arsed queuing. Maybe it's just me, but when I walk through the cinema entrance I'm going to want to have as little contact with another human as I can. I'll book online, will have social distanced seating and will be bringing my own nosh (should I wish).

CastorTroy

I like the popcorn and Sahara Nuts. Only reason I buy anything in the shop.
Of course I'm usually finished by the time the 15+ minutes of ads are over

Telecaster58

I see the cinemas at Dundrum have a full schedule of films next week. All appear to have been previously screened and include, 1917, Joker. Interstellar, Dunkirk, Knives Out, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and various others, including family friendly shows. This is an admirable effort under the circumstances. They also set out their protocols. A much fuller and better response than all the other chains and cinemas, none of whom appear to have updated their websites since last March

murpho999

Telecaster58 wrote: »

I see the cinemas at Dundrum have a full schedule of films next week. All appear to have been previously screened and include, 1917, Joker. Interstellar, Dunkirk, Knives Out, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and various others, including family friendly shows. This is an admirable effort under the circumstances. They also set out their protocols. A much fuller and better response than all the other chains and cinemas, none of whom appear to have updated their websites since last March

Good to see but I don't get their seating plans.

I just looked at booking a screening of Spiderman as an example, every second row blocked out, which makes sense but it seems you can pick from an entire row of seats.

I wonder does that change as bookings get made.

I don't see how it can profitable to cinemas to be open at such limited capacity in all fairness.

ronano

I rarely buy food in the cinema beyond the occasional hotdog. I wouldn't be opposed to buying some food as condition of ticket. It would have to be temporary tho!

titan18

Cork Omniplex have one film on their schedule from 3rd July on (Sonic). Maybe they're putting that Friday as their reopening, or could just be an error