BOSTON — While local movie theaters can now reopen under Phase 3 of Massachusetts’ reopening plan, a limit on seating capacity, a temporary ban on concession sales, and a lack of new releases are making reopening impractical for many businesses.
The state’s mandatory safety requirements due to the coronavirus pandemic limit occupancy at indoor movie theaters to 40% capacity, “and never more than 25 persons in a single, enclosed, indoor space,” according to guidelines released by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
Loni Dirksen, Marketing Manager at O’Neil Cinemas, with a location in Littleton, tells Boston 25 News a 25-person maximum in each theater, along with other restrictions and challenges, makes reopening unfeasible.
“In this auditorium that we’re in right now that can seat 289 people, we can only have 25 people,” Dirksen said, standing in an empty theater. “So that’s about a 9% capacity. And it’s just not feasible to be able to run at such low capacity.”
In Step 1 of its third phase, the state is also limiting food service to outdoor movie venues only. That restriction is one of the biggest obstacles to reopening, Dirksen said.
“What most people don’t know is that a lot of [our revenue] goes toward the movie studios from the movie tickets,” Dirksen said. “And just a small a portion goes to the movie theater. So the food and beverage service is a big part of what makes the movie theater run.”
But even if it were profitable to reopen, theaters would not have any new movies to show, as studios continue to delay releasing new films. Warner Bros. announced Monday it will again delay the release of “Tenet,” the first film theaters were hoping to screen after months of being shuttered.
“We’ve had to lay off all of our staff, which is about 125 in both of our locations. And it’s been tough,” Dirksen said. “As the movie studios push back the dates of the releases, we have to push back the date of our opening. Although we can show older, classic movies, it’s not feasible to do that continually for more than just a week.”
Despite no reopening date yet being set, staff at O’Neil Cinemas, which has another location in Epping, N.H., are preparing for the day they are able to welcome back their loyal moviegoers.
Kevin Seery, Assistant Marketing Manager, has been coordinating new safety measures at the theaters, along with Dirksen.
“There’s a lot of people that are excited to come back in,” Seery said. “We have a lot of loyal customers, and we’re a staple of the community. So people are excited to come back, but we want to make sure it’s done as safely as possible.”
Seery showed Boston 25 News Plexiglass dividers that will soon be installed at the concession stands to separate employees and customers. Hand sanitizer stations are also being set up.
Employees will use a newly purchased electrostatic disinfectant sprayer to sanitize seats and surfaces between each screening, as well as all high-traffic areas, bathrooms, kiosks and door handles every 15 to 30 minutes.
Digital displays inform customers of the theater’s required mask policy. Signage on the floor instructs moviegoers to keep at least six feet of distance from one another.
O’Neil Cinemas will soon roll out a new app as a touchless option for customers to purchase tickets – and eventually food and drinks – by their phones.
Until they can reopen, many in the movie theater industry are pushing for the COVID-19 relief bill, RESTART Act, to be passed. The bipartisan proposal takes the federal Payment Protection Program (PPP) a step further, creating a new loan program that would provide funding for six months of payroll and operating expenses for businesses hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Some borrowers would be eligible for partial loan forgiveness.
“Every kind of thing that comes out that has to do with movies – streaming the movies – ‘Oh, man! This is going to kill the movie theater business!’” Dirksen said of Netflix and other streaming services. “But really, if anything were to kill it, it would probably be this pandemic, which is why we really need this RESTART Act to be passed by the Congress, so that it can help save our movie theater.”
O’Neil Cinemas’ New Hampshire location is also closed. But, because of lighter restrictions in that state, Dirksen expects more success reopening there. Her team is considering offering private screenings of older movies.
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RESOURCES:
- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information
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