Movie Theater Chains Join Forces to Create Uniform Safety Guidelines For Reopening

Movie theater chains are joining forces to come up with a uniform list of health protocols for all to follow when re-opening cinemas in the U.S., the New York Times reports.

Megan Colligan, the president of Imax Entertainment, and the chief executives of the four largest theater chains in the United States - AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Marcus Theaters and Regal Cinemas - appeared together via Zoom on Friday to announce these protocols, which include mask requirements, limited capacity, no condiment stations, plexiglass partitions and enhanced air-filtration systems.

The group has announced CinemaSafe, a new campaign that over 2,6000 theaters have signed on for.

How will these theaters be able to enforce the new rules?

"We already do routine checks as movies are playing to make sure the sound and picture quality are excellent," Mooky Greidinger, the chief executive of Cineworld, which owns Regal, said in a phone interview earlier in the week. "Those people will now be watching to see that people are wearing masks. These people will be opening an extra eye."

Greidinger says that the consumption of popcorn and other concessions will still be allowed, stating that chewing with one's mouth closed is considered safer than speaking without a mask.

Dr. Joyce L. Sanchez, an infectious-disease expert at the Medical College of Wisconsin, isn't so sure. She said she would encourage patrons to minimize eating and drinking while attending a screening.

"Going to THE MOVIES is not risk free," she said, but she encourages people attending movie screenings to "Honor the people around you. Speak up. Hold our movie companies accountable for what they are promising."

Read more on the New York Times.

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