AMC, Regal & Cinemark all postpone reopening plans

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

As has been the case whenever a major tentpole release pushes off its planned release date, AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark have all postponed their planned reopenings. The news comes in the wake of Christopher Nolan's TENET delaying its release indefinitely as major studios wait for theaters in major markets such as Los Angeles and New York City to come back online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

AMC Theatres announced that they will be postponing the reopening of its U.S. screens to "mid-to-late August." The world's biggest theater chain was set to have a phased reopening on July 15 with the hopes of being fully operational by July 24. The date was then pushed to July 30 late last month. A spokesperson for AMC had this to say about the new delay:

"This new timing reflects currently expected release dates for much-anticipated blockbusters like Warner Bros.' Tenet and Disney's Mulan, as well as release dates for several other new movies coming to AMC's big screens."

Regal Cinemas has also put reopening on hold and unlike AMC, they have yet to reveal a new date that they will open their doors. They released a statement saying "Announcement of new reopening date coming soon."  Regal Cinemas had previously reported a reopening date of July 31 but they're also following the lead of the studios by not reopening since films like TENET are now out of play. Regal once had a plan to start a phased reopening as early as July 10 but the constant shift in release dates for major films has had them jump off of those reopening plans and since nothing is certain as of this moment, Regal has decided to sit back and just see what happens before announcing a new date.

The third-largest theater chain in the U.S., Cinemark, has also made the decision to postpone its reopening plans as well. The movie theater chain had plans to open up again this week with older titles in order to prepare for new movies coming out in the following weeks. No new reopening date has been announced as of this writing but the company had this to say about the postponement:

"The company continues to evaluate availability of new studio content, status of the virus and local government regulations as it plans for the phased reopening of is U.S. theatres. All locations will reopen with greatly enhanced cleanliness, sanitizing, and safety measures at every step of the moviegoing experience."

All three of these brands are being driven by the decisions of the studios. The more the studios postpone their films, the more the theatres will shift their reopenings as well. They both need each other so that's why there is this frequent change in release and reopening strategies but it's clear everyone is playing this all by ear and the situation is constantly evolving. I'm trying to be confident that we will have some form of moviegoing in 2020 but the way things are going, it's becoming harder and harder to stay optimistic.

Do YOU agree with their decision to postpone their reopenings?