Russia’s Karo Cinemas Announces August Reopening

Russian theater chain Karo Cinemas has set a date of Saturday, August 1st for the reopening of its Moscow-area theaters. Between August 16 and September 1, the remainder of the Karo locations throughout Russia will open their doors. Karo operates 350 screens across 30 locations, including the two highest-grossing theaters in the country. “All of us at Karo are very excited to bring back to moviegoers of all ages the magic and wonder of grand cinematic storytelling on the big screen,” said Karo Chairman Paul Heth and President Olga Zinyakova in a joint statement. “Our cinemas are the best venues and medium for Russia’s and the world’s most imaginative and creative film makers to share their unique vision and storytelling. All Karo team members have been waiting and preparing for this day to open our doors and welcome back our loyal patrons. Moviegoing is cherished tradition...

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Megaplex Theatres Offering Two Free Movie Tickets to Loyalty Program Members in August

New and qualified members of Megaplex Theatres’ loyalty program, MyMegaRewards, will be receiving two free movie tickets to use during the month of August, the company announced Thursday (July 30). “We want to thank our loyal guests and make it a little easier to check out our enhanced safety protocols and enjoy a movie or two compliments of Megaplex,” said Megaplex Theatres president Blake Andersen in a statement. “Guest and employee health and safety continue to be our highest priority as our team takes extraordinary steps to ensure a safe environment for everyone.” In order to receive the free tickets, guests are invited to join MyMegaRewards on the Megaplex Theatres mobile app or website. Current members will qualify for the offer after completing their loyalty profile and activating their account. The complimentary tickets are valid for any new or classic film shown...

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This Weekend in Box Office History: Guardians of the Galaxy, Bourne, Rush Hour 2, Signs, Rogue Nation, Talladega Nights, & More

Our look back into the box office archives hits July’s climax and August’s beginning this week as the focus moves to the 31st weekend of the year. Pre-pandemic, this particular weekend was originally slated to see the opening of Lionsgate’s Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar and Sony / Columbia’s Morbius, the next chapter in “Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters”. The former of the two is now poised to release on July 16, 2021, while the latter is planned for March 19, 2021. On with the countdown… Marvel’s “Riskiest” Film Breaks August Records Speaking of Marvel, the biggest debut ever on this weekend belongs to Disney and the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Guardians of the Galaxy. For those that still doubted the Marvel brand’s ability to attract casual moviegoers in a post-Avengers world, even without well-known characters, August 2014 would silence such claims. Following...

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U.K. Mandates Wearing of Face Masks in Cinemas

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that, starting August 8, the wearing of masks will be mandatory in movie theaters. The announcement comes the same day as Cineworld, the U.K.’s largest chain, begins reopening its theaters in England.  Cineworld, per its announcement of Covid-era safety measures, did not previously require that patrons, in addition to employees, wear PPE. “We will… extend the requirement to wear a face covering to other indoor settings where you’re likely to come into contact with people you do not normally meet, such as museums, galleries, cinemas, and places of worship,” said Johnson in today’s briefing. “We now recommend face coverings are worn in these settings, and this will become enforceable in law from August 8.” Yesterday, exhibitor Vue International pushed back their U.K. reopening date from a previously announced July 31....

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Cineplex to Reopen 25 Theaters in Ontario, Canada This Friday

Leading Canadian exhibitor Cineplex is opening 25 theaters across Ontario on Friday (July 31), the company announced today, in the first round of a phased reopening plan that will see its other 43 Ontario locations reopen over the next several weeks. To combat the spread of the coronavirus, all Cineplex theaters will reopen with enhanced safety and cleaning measures and updated procedures to ensure physical distancing both inside and outside auditoriums. These practices include: reducing capacity inside all auditoriums, eliminating cash purchases, providing personal protective equipment for employees, limiting food offerings to popcorn and other “core concessions,” making hand sanitizer readily available to guests and employees, and mandating masks for moviegoers inside the theater in communities where it is mandated. More information on these measures is available here. In...

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CineAsia Announces 2020 Conference Will Be Online

The Film Expo Group has announced that the 2020 edition of CineAsia will take place online, on October 21 and 22. CineAsia was initially scheduled to take place on December 7-10 in Bangkok, Thailand. Earlier this month, the Film Expo Group announced that those dates would be taken by ShowEast (typically held in October) in Miami, Florida. Now, CineAsia is moving into October 21 and 22 with an online event. The Film Expo Group’s CineEurope event was previously shifted to a two-day online event, which took place on June 17 and 18. The post CineAsia Announces 2020 Conference Will Be Online appeared first on Boxoffice. from Boxoffi...

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GQT Movies Unveils Reopening Plan and Expected Opening Dates for Midwest Theaters

After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, Goodrich Quality Theaters is back from the brink with new ownership, a new name—GQT Movies—and a safety plan for its soon-to-reopen cinemas in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. GQT was purchased by Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group, a real estate partnership specializing in shopping malls, earlier this month. The companies partnered with theater operating company VIP Cinemas to take over 22 GQT locations, which include 12 in Michigan, seven in Indiana, two in Missouri, and one in Illinois. Dubbed the “3 Ss Plan,” the newly-unveiled reopening guidelines were informed by official NATO recommendations and state and local guidelines. The announcement of the guidelines coincides with expected reopening dates for several of the circuit’s Midwest locations, which—like the majority of movie theaters in...

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Wilton, NH’s Town Hall Theatre to Dedicate a Week to Silent Comedy Classics

As a reaction to the lack of new Hollywood films, Wilton, New Hampshire’s Town Hall Theatre is leaving the 21st century entirely by dedicating an entire week’s worth of programming to silent comedy classics. When the two-screen Town Hall Theatre reopened in early July after a nearly four-month shutdown, they did so with recent releases that failed to bring in audiences—or, in some cases, audience singular, as there were evening shows without a single ticket sold. “We’ve been ready to go, but we can’t run a movie theater without movies,” said owner/operator Dennis Markaverich. To that end, the independent Town Hall Theatre has entered into an intermission—and will come out on Monday, August 10 with Silent Film Comedy Week. Markaverich was inspired to shift gears in programming by a July screening of 1921’s The Three Muskerteers, part of the theater’s ongoing weekend silent...

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Popcorn Power: Shelly Olesen Narrows in on 30 Years at C. Cretors & Company

It was during her job interview that Shelly Olesen knew she belonged at C. Cretors & Company. “I looked at the guy woh was interviewing me and I said, ‘Okay, no, you have to hire me. This is the job for me,’” she recalls. “I knew it. It felt like home.” Nearly 30 years later, the job title’s changed, but the feeling of belonging hasn’t. Now Cretors’ VP Sales and Marketing, overseeing the company’s sales to theaters, bars, bowling alleys, and the like, the love and pride Olesen feels for her company, her industry, and (naturally) popcorn comes through loud and clear. It’s not uncommon at Cretors, says Olesen, for people to stay as long as she has—but 30 years is nonetheless a small span compared to the history of the company, founded in the 1880s. Charles Cretors, so the company history goes, invented the popcorn machine back in 1893, inspired by watching street vendors...

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AMC Theatres Welcomes Back Universal Titles Under Significantly Shortened Theatrical Exclusivity Window

Universal titles will be welcome at AMC Theatres once the circuit reopens in August—and available on Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) platforms much earlier than previously possible.  AMC has come to an agreement with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG) to carry the studio’s releases across its global network of 11,000 screens in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Relations between the circuit and studio had soured following the PVOD launch of Universal’s Trolls World Tour, leading AMC to abandon release plans for any future Universal titles. Today’s announcement marks the end to those tensions and effectively alters the entire theatrical distribution landscape worldwide. The agreement significantly decreases the period of theatrical exclusivity for all Universal and Focus Features titles that play on AMC’s screens—down from an industry average...

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Korea Box Office: Train to Busan Sequel Peninsula Dominates Again in Sophomore Frame

Peninsula, the sequel to the 2016 horror-action blockbuster Train to Busan, once again topped the South Korean box office in its second weekend there, ringing up ₩5,382,236,040 Korean won from 595,111 admissions (over 80 percent of overall business in the country), a dip of just over 51% from its opening frame. That includes $265,000 USD from 51 IMAX screens, pushing its tally in the premium format to $1.06 million to date. The total for the much-anticipated sequel now stands at ₩25,134,686,700, representing 2,862,873 admissions. Though Peninsula‘s total box office to date is lagging substantially behind that of Train to Busan‘s ₩68,154,112,339...

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Regal Pushes Back U.S. Cinema Reopening to August 21

Regal Entertainment Group, the second largest exhibitor in the United States, has pushed back the date when they will begin opening their theaters to August 21. Prior to this announcement, Regal theaters were slated to open beginning on July 31, placing the reopening a few weeks before Warner Bros.’ August 12 release of Tenet. Warner Bros. subsequently pulled Tenet off its release calendar before later today noting that it will open in select U.S. theaters on September 3 for Labor Day weekend. (Tenet will open in 70 international markets starting August 26.) The announcement that Regal will open U.S. locations beginning August 21 puts it in the same reopening corridor as AMC, which last week pushed their reopening date to “mid-to-late August” for U.S. theaters. Regal’s parent company, U.K.-based Cineworld, still currently plans to reopen on July 31; U.K. cinemas have...

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Pixar’s Onward Leads U.K. Box Office with £49K

Pixar’s Onward topped the U.K. box office this weekend, for the second time in the three weekends that cinemas have been allowed to reopen. The film led on the July 3-5 frame—the first weekend U.K. cinemas could open their doors after the Covid-19 shutdown—with £21,626. It then rose +62.2 percent to £35,086 from July 10-12, despite falling to second place behind a re-release of 1980’s Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back with £50,406. In its third weekend back in U.K. cinemas, Onward regained the lead with another +40.4 percent increase to £49,271. Empire fell to second place, declining -33.8 percent to £33,343.  For comparison, Onward led the U.K. box office over its original March 6-8 debut with £3,419,500 and again on March 13-15 with £1,272,748. The latter weekend was the last in which the nation’s cinemas were still largely open. Onward is...

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Struggling French Cinema Sector Calls for Additional Aid

The French Cinema Federation (FNCF) is calling on the nation’s government to provide additional aid to its struggling cinema sector. Movie theaters have struggled to find traction in the market since being allowed to reopen on June 22, with a lack of Hollywood product compounding existing public concerns on returning to theaters. Most recently, the iconic Le Grand Rex cinema in Paris announced it would close its doors through most of August due to declining admissions. “We tried everything by reopening with retrospectives; some of them worked and some of them sold out,” says Alexandre Hellmann, owner of Le Grand Rex. “But it is becoming difficult to innovate and offer other programming series to the public, especially without having access to Disney and Fox repertory titles. We cut back by starting our showtimes at 4 p.m., closing some auditoriums, and rotating our teams...

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Searchlight Pictures Partners with Key Film Festivals for Theatrical Premiere of Nomadland

Nomadland—the third feature film from Chloé Zhao, director of 2017 indie favorite The Rider and Disney’s upcoming The Eternals—will still have its festival season debut, even as theaters across North America remain shut down. Per an announcement from Searchlight Pictures chairmen Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula, Nomadland will have its world premiere on September 11 with simultaneous screenings at the Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Venice is currently going on as previously planned, while Toronto will pair digital screenings, talks, and events with a limited number of socially distanced, in-theater screenings. Screenings of Nomadland at each festival will be paired by a virtual introduction from Zhao and Frances McDormand. In addition to serving as a producer, McDormand stars in Nomadland as a woman who decides to live the...

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Breaking: Warner Bros. Announces Tenet to Open in 70 Countries on August 26, Select Cities in United States on September 3 for Labor Day Weekend

Warner Bros. confirmed early this afternoon they now plan to release Christopher Nolan’s Tenet in 70 countries around the world starting August 26. On the overseas front, major territories will include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Domestically, the current plan is for the studio to begin rolling out the film on Thursday, September 3 in select cities, in time for Labor Day weekend. The understanding at this stage is that those cities will be selected based on the status of the pandemic in regions around the country. Future expansions are possible, if not likely, as the studio eyes a long theatrical window under current circumstances. This marks the fourth announced release plan for Nolan’s latest film, following delays from its original target of July 17, then pushed to July 31 and August 12 at various...

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Moviegoers Send 200,000 Letters to Congress in Support of Theaters through NATO’s #SaveYourCinema Campaign

The National Association of Theatre Owners’ #SaveYourCinema campaign has inspired moviegoers across the country to send over 200,000 letters to Congress in support of more relief measures for cinemas of all sizes. Launched in mid-July, the campaign urges Congress to enact the RESTART Act (S. 3814/H.R. 7481), which will give movie theaters access to partially forgivable seven-year loans covering six months of expenses. The RESTART Act will serve as a lifeline for theaters that have been left behind by existing loan programs. The campaign also presses the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to implement more relief programs under the CARES Act that help theaters of all sizes. Movie theaters in the United States employ over 150,000 people, many of which are vulnerable individuals underrepresented in the workforce, including young people and people with disabilities. “The passionate...

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Moviegoers Send Over 200,000 Letters to Congress Through NATO’s SaveYourCinema Campaign

The National Association of Theatre Owners’ #SaveYourCinema campaign has inspired moviegoers across the country to send over 200,000 letters to Congress in support of more relief measures for cinemas of all sizes. Launched in mid-July, the campaign urges Congress to enact the RESTART Act (S. 3814/H.R. 7481), which will give movie theaters access to partially forgivable seven-year loans covering six months of expenses. The RESTART Act will serve as a lifeline for theaters that have been left behind by existing loan programs. The campaign also presses the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to implement more relief programs under the CARES Act that help theaters of all sizes. Movie theaters in the United States employ over 150,000 people, many of which are vulnerable individuals underrepresented in the workforce, including young people and people with disabilities. “The passionate...

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NATO On Bringing Back the Moviegoing Experience

BY NATO STAFF The below column was originally published in the August 2020 issue of Boxoffice Pro. It is great to be back in the pages of Boxoffice Pro after a brief hiatus. We thought it would be best to use this space to summarize the work we’ve been doing to help our industry rebound from the worst crisis it has ever faced.  Government Relations Since the start of the global pandemic, NATO has been working tirelessly to assist theater owners in staying solvent. As Congress began to contemplate relief legislation in mid-March, we immediately moved to retain robust representation on Capitol Hill and worked assiduously to ensure that theaters would be eligible for assistance programs. Congress passed the CARES Act at the end of March, which included mandates for several loan programs: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Emergency Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)...

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