Much of the U.S. has gradually started to reopen its businesses in a limited capacity which has made moviegoers curious as to where movie theaters fall in this current reopening plan. We can't speak for every major movie theater chain but Regal Cinemas has become to first of the big theater brands to make a statement on this matter and if Regal was your theater of choice, you'll still be waiting a while before you're able to give them some business.
Regal Cinemas is one of the largest movie theater chains in the country with AMC being the only chain that comes out ahead of them. Much like AMC, Regal's doors have been shuttered since mid-March and even though titles like TENET and MULAN are slated for release in late July, Regal still isn't ready to announce an opening date. In a recent Twitter post, Regal had this to say about their current status:
Movie studios are likely watching and waiting to see what chains like AMC and Regal are going to do in terms of reopening. They need a considerable amount of them to be open so it can justify their risk in sending out their big-budget movies into a very uncertain box office climate. The lack of answers right now makes the decision on this a pretty difficult one, especially as we enter the month of June. A lot can change in a few weeks but how much marketing spend do you put into more advertisement if you suspect you may have to shift your release date in the near future?
The movie theater closures have led to their own drama between theaters and studios. AMC declared they would boycott future Universal Pictures' releases after the studio boasted about the digital release success of TROLLS WORLD TOUR and their desire to look into this release method as a more viable option in the future. While Regal did back AMC in a sense, they did clarify they aren't boycotting any studio but they did say they won't show movies that don't honor the traditional theatrical window:
"Regal is not boycotting Universal nor any other studio. We will continue our normal policy and play movies that respect the theatrical window, allowing movies to be released first in theatres prior to streaming or VOD platforms.
I do suspect that a decision on these major movie theater chains has to happen soon. We're just a few days away from the start of June and I would suspect that some kind of plan would need to be in place before mid-June to make studios comfortable maintaining their release dates for the month of July. I'm hoping we hear a decision soon because I want to get back to the movies, albeit, in a very safe manner, but I'm ready nonetheless.
Do YOU frequent Regal Cinemas? Do YOU think they'll reopen in time for the July releases?