Vue Cinemas is aiming to open up its cinemas in time for the release of Mulan and Tenet, this coming July.
With lockdown measures in the UK likely to be relaxed over the coming weeks, it’s still unclear just how cinemas will fare in whatever the new normal looks like. It’s likely that they’ll be reopened gradually, and that admissions will be restricted, but quite when that’ll be remains to be seen.
In a new interview with the BBC, though, Vue Cinemas boss Tim Richards has revealed that he’s looking towards a July reopening for its sites, which is when the next two big Hollywood blockbusters are scheduled for opening. Both Disney’s Mulan and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet remain on the schedule for July, and the plan is for them to stay there.
Richards added that “we can control how many people come into our cinemas at any one time – we have the ability to control the exit and entrance”, and that “we are trying to work with the government to demonstrate we are not like sporting fixtures and pop concerts”.
The great unsaid in the midst of this argument is that cinemas in the UK work on an average occupancy rate of around 20-30%, with only peak time showings tending to get more crowded. The majority of screenings in the UK have plenty of room in them.
More news as we get it – and we should start to get a clearly idea when an announcement is made over the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions, which is expected next week.
BBC
