Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi says the company hopes to reopen its theaters by July and even begin screening new movies like Christopher Nolan’s Tenet that month. As everyone is well-aware, the coronavirus pandemic has heavily impacted the entertainment industry over these past four weeks, forcing movie and TV show productions to shut down and theater chains like Cinemark, Regal, AMC, and everything in-between to close their doors over health concerns. Due to the fluid nature of the outbreak, it’s not at all clear when theaters will be able to safely reopen. In fact, some have even begun to consider the extreme, but not impossible, scenario in which theaters are unable to reopen in 2020 at all.
For now, entertainment vendors are hopeful it won’t come to that and are looking into reopening their doors around the middle to the end of June (assuming they’re financially able to by that time). The release calendar has already been wiped clean of wide releases on through to mid-July, based on the expectation theaters will need some time to get fully up and running again, even if they reopen by June. It’s also been suggested theaters might start off by screening older movie marathons and franchises before they return to showing new films.
Speaking on a morning call to Wall Street analysts (via THR), Zoradi predicted Cinemark theaters will reopen on July 1 after using June to bring their employees back into the fold and, towards the end of the month, even screen classic movies to encourage people to head back to the multiplex. Zoardi was keen to emphasize his company is “not completely certain” about its plans, but their hope is to return to something resembling normalcy by the time Tenet‘s July 17 release date rolls around.
It’s worth reiterating this timetable is tentative (to say the least). In a ratings note issued around the same time as Zoardi’s comments, Fitch Ratings director Patrice Cucinello said the expectation is theaters will remain closed “at least until June”, and even after they reopen they will likely start out seeing a drop-off in revenue due to a combination of people being wary of attending public events too soon after the peak of the coronavirus outbreak and “potential government-imposed mandates limiting capacity.” Still, if Cinemark is able to follow through with these plans, it’s possible Tenet will stick to its current release date after all and not move to a later spot, as pretty much everyone has been anticipating it would over the last two weeks.
Despite all this, some (justifiably) feel it’s overly optimistic to think theaters will be able to show new movies again by July and, in turn, believe studios like Warner Bros. and Disney are pushing their luck by scheduling tentpoles like Tenet and Mulan to open in the latter half of that month. Obviously, as much as film buffs are eager to head back to their local multiplex (and theaters want/need to start making money again), health and safety take priority and shouldn’t be overlooked for the sake of hitting a deadline. In the meantime, everyone ought to continue to do their part to help with the situation by practicing social distancing and wait to see how things unfold from here.
Key Release Dates
Tenet
Release Date:2020-09-03
