AMC Theatres has pushed its reopening plan to mid-to-late August, moving away from the previously announced July 30 timeframe. Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming blockbuster, Tenet, was supposed to open in July but has since also been postponed. Even though things on that front have changed, the theater chain doesn't want to wait longer to reopen. The decision comes at a time when Nolan’s film has no official release date. Warner Bros. officially removed Tenet from its 2020 release calendar amid concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic on July 20.
The film, which is being billed as an espionage film that follows a secret organization with the abilities to “invert time,” has now seen its release date shift three separate times. First, it was set to be seen on the palindromic July 17; then, it was pushed back to July 31; then came Aug. 12; now comes… who knows. AMC Theatres, meanwhile, has tried to align its reopening with the debut of Tenet, but it appears that strategy has stopped on the heels of the movie's latest delay.
Per Deadline, the film ordained as the movie of the summer isn’t going to hold AMC back from reopening in mid-to-late August. Although Warner Bros. won’t be “rolling Tenet out in a typical everywhere global day-and-date fashion,” AMC plans to begin welcoming tenants back inside its theaters for movies and Mike & Ikes. Warner’s release plan certainly isn’t typical. It will likely see release overseas first “in such markets as Asia and certain European markets where COVID-19 has quelled,” and make its way to America in areas deemed safe to reopen. It should be noted that states including New Jersey, Maryland, and New York, one of the biggest cinematic markets in the country, have yet to receive the proper approval to reopen.
The inability to screen/premiere in major markets hurts the theaters in those markets as well as the film itself, making Tenet’s continued postponement a presumed inevitability until its deemed safe in those particular areas. Theaters in New York were pulled from Phase 4 reopening guidelines by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June as cases spiked in other states. In Los Angeles, the largest and most lucrative market in the U.S., mayor Eric Garcetti elected to take a “hard pause” on when theaters might reopen in late June, citing spikes as well.
As for Tenet, the film reportedly needs to make $800 million to break even, a gargantuan amount that isn’t unheard of, but it might be hard to clip if and when theaters reframe ission and seating plans. AMC’s reopening plans have seen revisions over time – they first planned to not require masks due to a fear of making such guidelines a “political issue,” though they have since made it clear that masks are a must. Furthermore, they’ll be partnering with Clorox and performing electro-static cleaning of seats in between screenings.
AMC Theatres wishes to reopen – and intends to – but COVID-19’s threat is far from neutralized, so much so that larger businesses have opted not to open their offices. While not an office, a theater is just as confined, if not more so, and serves as the antithesis of an incubator.
Source: Deadline
