If you’re looking to see a movie someone in the next several weekends…well, first of all, you may not have been looking at the news overmuch, because there’s a plague on and it’s not a good idea to gather in public places right now. And second of all, it’s going to pretty difficult for you, and not just because many studios are pulling major movies from distribution until fears over the Coronavirus have settled down. Major theater chains are simply closing, or at least limiting who can enter.
Among the theaters closing their doors for a while are Regal, Landmark, and the Alamo Drafthouse — we don’t have word on whether impacted employees will be paid in the meantime. AMC, meanwhile, is adopting a “50-50” policy, where it caps ticket sales for any one screening at 50 people or 50 percent of capacity, whichever is less.
Obviously, theaters are prudent to take restrictive measures right now. I wonder if the AMC policy can last, given that President Trump just recommended that people not gather in groups made up of more than 10 individuals. AMC is the largest theater chain in the United States and has the most to lose from shutting down, but the writing is already on the wall. The other day we reported that the American box office just had its worst weekend in 20 years, and that’s only going to get worse as people self-quarantine and watch movies at home on streaming services and the like, which is much safer.
Plus, AMC’s strategy is moot in major cities like New York and Los Angeles, where movie theaters have been ordered to close anyway. Companies like Universal and Disney are making that easier by releasing movies on demand much earlier than expected.
UPDATE: It ends up that AMC’s 50-50 strategy lasted all of several hours. Theaters are now closed for the next three-four months:
In compliance with local, state, and federal #COVID19 directives, all #AMCTheatres locations are now closed for at least 6-12 weeks. AMC Stubs A-List memberships will be paused automatically during the time AMC theatres are closed.
— AMC Theatres (@AMCTheatres) March 17, 2020
It’s gonna be a long year.
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h/t The A.V. Club