Cinemark Won’t Require Guests to Wear Masks When it Reopens This Month
We continue to creep closer to the mid-July timeframe when movie theaters around America are tentatively scheduled to reopen their doors for the first time since mid-March, and Hollywood studios are tentatively scheduled to begin releasing major motion pictures again. The chains are expected to make some big changes to their operations and policies as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
For example, Cinemark has begun to unveil its plan for social distancing in its theaters, but it will apparently not include a requirement for all guests to wear masks. The company confirmed to TheWrap that “outside of those areas where it is required by local mandates, Cinemark will be encouraging — not requiring — guests to wear face masks.”
All employees will be required to wear masks, in addition to several other policies:
Cinemark will also increase its cleaning and sanitation measures to levels that meet or exceed the CDC and WHO guidelines; minimize physical interactions at the box office and concession stands, while installing plexiglass screens; frequently disinfect high touch areas, including theater seats every morning and before each screening; provide hand and seat sanitizing for guests; screen employees before each shift; and stagger showtimes to minimize crowds.
Cinemark also announced that they plan to begin a phased reopening of its theaters starting on June 19, with the goal of all of its multiplexes around the United States reopened by July 10, one week before Warner Bros. is scheduled to open Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. Personally, while I’d love to see Tenet on a big screen — hell, I’d love to watch Battlefield Earth on a big screen right, that’s how much I miss going to the movies — I’m not sure I’m going to feel safe in any movie theater next month, much less one that allows customers to use their own discretion whether to wear a mask or not.
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