MERIDIAN, Idaho — The popcorn is buttered, the lights are dimmed and the staff is ready to start the show. After five months, movie theaters across the country and here in the Treasure Valley are starting to reopen.
“It's been hell, it's just disastrous to watch a company that you worked so long and hard to help build and create just get dismantled in a matter of 48 hours,” said the executive director of Cinema West James Howard.
Cinema West owns the Village Cinema at the Village at Meridian, which opened Friday.
“After being away for so long and coming back, it's just like going back to school and seeing all your friends again,” Howard said.
He says while the sights and sounds of the big screen are still the same, there will be some noticeable differences. For example, required masks and implemented social distancing into the movie going experience. But that's not all.
“Everything is completely sanitized,” Howard said. “We've treated the entire building with the same product that's used in surgical centers.”
At the Cinemark Majestic Cinema in Meridian, signs are posted throughout the theater urging people to practice social distancing and also wear masks.
Chanda Brashears is the Vice President of Investor and Public Relations for Cinemark. She told KTVB, the theater is also sanitizing hard surfaces every 30 minutes.
“We're thrilled to be welcoming back moviegoers for that immersive cinematic experience that we've all been craving,” Brashears said.
At both theaters, when moviegoers purchase tickets, the seats adjacent to the ones selected are also automatically blocked off to ensure physical distancing.
“They're going to be safer going into the movie theater than going to the grocery store or any department store or an airplane,” Howard said.
The movie theater industry now hoping to reel in business after having to shut down for so long.
“We were essentially generating no revenue during this time frame,” Brashears said.
“The whole COVID closures have had a huge domino effect,” Howard said. “It not only has blocked the releases that have been waiting in the pipeline to come out because the theaters haven’t been open to receive them so they've had to push them back or set them to streaming plus moving to the production side, they had to stop production.”
As for movie showings, there are some new releases being shown in the theaters this weekend like "Unhinged" with Russell Crowe. However, because there are a limited number of new releases coming out, movie theaters are also showing classic blockbusters like The Goonies" and "Back to the Future" for discounted prices.
Some theaters are also offering private screenings, where people can rent out an auditorium for themselves.
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