Melanie Parker didn’t know what to expect when she reopened Sweet Onion Cinemas in Vidalia, Ga., shortly after the governor lifted the stay-at-home order. It’s been a few weeks now, and the attendance numbers are pretty dismal.
The first weekend, 34 people came through the doors. The next weekend, it dropped to 14. Parker changed the lineup, adding some Christian movies, and it picked back up to 39 — still a fraction of a typical weekend before the pandemic.
“They’re scared,” Parker says.
Around the country, only a handful of states have allowed theaters to reopen, and in those places most cinemas — including all the big chains — have remained closed. About 3% of indoor theaters were open last week, and those were at limited capacity. Georgia was the first state to reopen, but only a handful of cinemas have actually done so.
Malcolm Neal runs the Ritz Theatre, a historic single-screen cinema in the town of Thomaston.
The first weekend, 34 people came through the doors. The next weekend, it dropped to 14. Parker changed the lineup, adding some Christian movies, and it picked back up to 39 — still a fraction of a typical weekend before the pandemic.
“They’re scared,” Parker says.
Around the country, only a handful of states have allowed theaters to reopen, and in those places most cinemas — including all the big chains — have remained closed. About 3% of indoor theaters were open last week, and those were at limited capacity. Georgia was the first state to reopen, but only a handful of cinemas have actually done so.
Malcolm Neal runs the Ritz Theatre, a historic single-screen cinema in the town of Thomaston.
- 5/27/2020
- by Gene Maddaus and Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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