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 for going back a century in Russia and is an experience that simply can not be replicated in the home.”
The Russian government ordered the closure of all cinemas on March 25; since then, Karo has set up two drive-in cinemas in the Moscow area. Per information provided by UNIC, cinemas were technically allowed to open in Russia starting July 15, though the governors of individual regions were able to make their own decisions as to the best reopening timeline. In Moscow, cinemas of a capacity of less than 3,000 will be able to open at half capacity as of August 1.
Major Russian exhibitors, including Karo, have released a “unified cinema safety standards” document that includes among its measures online ticketing, contactless payment and contactless receipt of goods from suppliers, monitoring of employee health, PPE use by staff, enhanced cleaning measures, and social distancing.
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 during the month of August 2020 at participating Megaplex Theatre locations in Utah.
To allow for the greatest flexibility, each qualified MyMegaRewards account will receive one premium luxury movie ticket and one traditional reserved movie ticket. Both types are valid for Luxury 2D, 3D, IMAX, and Dolby ATMOS formats.
Due to capacity limitations, only one free ticket may be used per transaction. The free tickets cannot be combined with other offers and are not eligible for refunds. Any unused free tickets will automatically expire at midnight on August 31, 2020.
Full details of the promotion will be emailed to new and existing MyMegaRewards members.
Megaplex notes it is currently following all CDC guidelines along with state and local directives for enhanced cleaning, sanitizing and operational protocols. Among other measures, the company is limiting capacity in its auditoriums based on state and local mandates, conducting wellness checks and requiring gloves and masks for employees, sanitizing each occupied seat between showtimes, and scaling back selected menu items in its food courts. It is also either requiring or strongly encouraging guests to wear face masks, depending on local health ordinances.
Megaplex Theatres operates 15 locations across Utah and Southern Nevada.
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 one of the most memorable marketing campaigns of the franchise (shout out to Blue Swede), Marvel introduced its next ensemble team of heroes — but this time, without any solo films or general familiarity outside fans to help build awareness. Guardians of the Galaxy delivered a fresh voice to the comic book canvas via writer/director James Gunn, backed by a cast of rising and established stars like Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel (among more).
The film’s $94.3 million debut remains one of the most impressive feats of the franchise given that the Guardians were unknown characters to anyone who wasn’t an avid comic reader. That figure marked the best August opening in history at the time (only since surpassed by Suicide Squad‘s $133.7 million in 2016).
The film was such a word-of-mouth success that, despite yielding first place to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) for two weekends, Guardians returned to first place at the box office in its fourth frame and held onto that spot through its sixth. The pic ultimately spent ten weekends in the top ten.
With a leggy run to $333.2 million domestically and $773 million worldwide, the Guardians risk more than paid off and further established the MCU’s name itself as a major selling point for moviegoers from all walks of life. The film beat virtually every financial expectation, ranking a close third place domestically for the year (trailing American Sniper‘s $350.1 million and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1‘s $337.1 million), while also registering third globally behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
The Bourne Weekend
Following a highly successful sleeper hit in 2002, and a popular sequel in 2004, Matt Damon returned to cap off the adaptations of author Robert Ludlum’s trilogy with The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007.
The anticipated and strongly reviewed sequel was an even bigger hit out of the gate than its predecessor, earning $69.3 million on opening weekend and setting a then-August record. That represented a 32 increase from The Bourne Supremacy‘s $52.5 million debut three years earlier and set the tone for a run that included eight weekends in the top ten.
By the end of Ultimatum‘s run, it became the highest grosser of the franchise with $227.5 million domestically (ranking 7th for the year) and $444.1 million globally (ranking 11th).
All of those figures remain high marks for the Bourne series, which would go on to see a spin-off starring Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Legacy) in 2012 before Damon and director Paul Greengrass returned for 2016’s Jason Bourne.
That follow-up didn’t draw quite the same critical or audience praise as the initial trilogy, but its $59.2 million opening was still quite respectable as an adult-driven thriller following years of demand for another chapter with Damon in the lead.
Jason Bourne ultimately finished with $162.4 million domestically, ranking 15th for the year, and $415.5 million worldwide (ranking 20th).
Chan and Tucker Return
Following the breakout success of 1998’s sleeper buddy cop comedy, Jackie Chan and Michael Tucker reunited for Rush Hour 2 in 2001. The sequel registered an excellent $67.4 million opening weekend, at the time representing both the biggest August debut and biggest comedy debut ever.
The film proved to be another leggy hit with audiences, too, as it stayed in the top two for five consecutive weekends and the top ten for ten. In the end, Rush Hour 2 was easily the top-grossing, non-animated comedy of its year with $226.2 million domestically. That was enough to rank fifth for 2001 as a whole behind the first Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films, Shrek, and Monsters, Inc.
Globally, Rush Hour 2 capped off with $347.3 million in the bank, ranking 11th for the year.
Shyamalan’s Top Starts
Following his career breakout with 1999’s The Sixth Sense and 2000’s fan-favorite Unbreakable, M. Night Shyamalan was an incredibly hot commodity in Hollywood — and with moviegoers — entering the early part of the 21st century.
That hot streak and another teaming with an A-list star (Mel Gibson) in a summer-friendly, Spielbergian, sci-fi family drama helped result in giant demand for the filmmaker’s next original project, 2002’s Signs. Combined with the buzzy, mysterious marketing campaign leading up to its release, audiences were sold upfront as the film bowed to $60.1 million on opening weekend — the high mark of Shyamalan’s career thus far, and what remains one of the best debuts ever for an original film.
Signs delivered on its promises as a crowd-pleaser as the film spent the dog days of summer dominating the box office, including four weekend finishes in first place and nine weekends in the top ten.
By the end of its run, Shyamalan’s third major directorial effort scored $228 million domestically and $408.3 million worldwide. It ranked sixth on the former front and seventh on the latter among all 2002 releases, while representing the top earning original film of the year globally (coming in just behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding‘s $241.4 million for the same feat on the domestic side).
Having gone three for three to start his career, including two blockbusters, Shyamalan continued that hot streak just two years later with the anticipated arrival of The Village. Boasting another mysterious marketing campaign in tow that promised the kind of thrills moviegoers had come to expect from his work, the film drew a strong debut with $50.8 million on opening weekend.
Unfortunately, the fireworks were slowed from there as word of mouth became quite divisive early on — largely due to the film’s twist ending that didn’t quite satisfy from a commercial standpoint in the way the auteur filmmaker had achieved with previous original screenplays. The film was out the top 20 after Labor Day weekend, its sixth of release.
Ultimately, The Village finished with $114.2 million domestically (ranking 20th for the 2004) and $256.7 million globally (ranking 17th). The film’s reception marked an unfortunate turning point in the filmmaker’s career that started a trend of box office under-performers and critical misses throughout the remainder of the ’00s, but to his fans’ delight, he’s gone on to recover in significant ways over the years since with a mix of critical and/or financial hits like Split, Glass, and The Visit.
Late Summer Actioners
This time of year has regularly proven conducive to adult-driven tentpoles as audiences, exposed to countless family-friendly movies over the course of any given summer, become hungry for more serious and/or high-octane material.
Last year itself saw the release of Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, the first spin-off from the Fast & Furious franchise that thrust Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham into lead roles. Despite that franchise’s evolution to include some family appeal, particularly from diverse backgrounds, this chapter still counted as breath of fresh air for summer movie fans as it presented a modern take on the buddy cop sub-genre which had become absent in recent years.
Bowing to $60 million, the film proved the franchise could thrive when taking a different avenue from the parent films led by Vin Diesel. Ultimately spending six weekends in the top five stateside, and eight in the top ten, Hobbs & Shaw finished with $174 million domestically as the 13th highest grossing film of 2019. Globally, returns were even more impressive (as is typical of the franchise as a whole) with $759.1 million, making it the 11th highest grosser of the year.
Four years prior, Tom Cruise was in command of the box office again thanks to the resurgence of the Mission: Impossible franchise. 2011’s Ghost Protocol had restored the blockbuster box office expectations of both star and brand, extending the series’ goodwill into anticipation for the fifth entry, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.
Following a marketing campaign that highlighted Cruise’s famous Airbus stunt, Rogue delivered a $55.5 million opening weekend in tow with strong reviews and word of mouth. Staying power was again strong for the sequel as it spent two weekends in first place and seven frames in the top five.
Rogue Nation legged out all the way to $195 million in North America, ranking 11th for 2015, and $682.7 million for 8th place worldwide that year. The film furthered the franchise’s goodwill even more, setting the stage for 2018’s Fallout.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes arrived ten years after the Tim Burton reboot, allowing enough time for casual audiences to warm up to the idea of another iteration of the franchise while also enabling fan anticipation to brew. James Franco took the lead in what promised to be a worthy origin story, but it was Andy Serkis’s motion-capture performance as Caesar that stole the show and won moviegoers’ hearts.
Debuting to $54.8 million on opening weekend, Rise was a strong early performer that developed staying power not always common for sci-fi franchises. The film won its first two weekends at the box office and remained in the top five for five frames.
Finishing with $176.7 million domestically and $481.8 million worldwide, Rise finished 11th and 14th for the year on those respective fronts.
The Ferrell Factor
You’d be hard-pressed to find an actor who had more impact on big screen comedy than Will Ferrell in the early ’00s. Following his popular supporting role in 2003’s Old School and his now-iconic breakout as a leading man in Elf later that year, Ferrell was instantly one of the most successful veterans to make the transition from Saturday Night Live to the big screen.
That rising star power continued with 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, before reaching one of the actor’s most successful films of his career thus far: 2006’s Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby.
Marketed as Ferrell’s next big comedy from the same director as Anchorman itself (Adam McKay), the film was already an evident candidate for quotable moments with well-received trailers ahead of release. The film opened with an excellent $47 million weekend, among the highest ever for an original comedy, winning its first two frames domestically and remaining in the top ten for six weekends.
Coupled with the lovable on-screen relationship between Ferrell’s and John C. Reilly’s characters, the film was a hit with more than just NASCAR fans as it rang up $148.2 million domestically. Ranking 12th for the year — second among non-animated comedies after Night at the Museum ($250.9 million) — Talladega Nights remains one of the most popular films of Ferrell’s oeuvre thus far.
Due to its NASCAR-centric story, the film didn’t receive a major international push as it tallied just $15.2 million overseas for a global total of $163.4 million (30th for the year).
Top 10 Three-Day Weekend Grosses for Weekend #31
Guardians of the Galaxy ($94.3 million, 2014)
The Bourne Ultimatum ($69.3 million, 2007)
Rush Hour 2 ($67.4 million, 2001)
Signs ($60.1 million, 2002)
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw ($60 million, 2019)
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.
“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. Now, a phased reopening will begin on August 7, when nine locations in England and one in Scotland will reopen their doors with revised safety procedures. Vue International has already reopened locations in several other countries in which it operates throughout Europe, including Germany, Denmark, Holland, Lithuania, Poland, and Italy.
Fellow U.K. major Odeon began opening U.K. locations starting July 4, the first day cinemas were allowed to reopen.
There was a mask controversy in mid-June in the U.S., as AMC—of which Odeon Cinemas Group is a subsidiary—announced that they would “strongly encourage,” but not require, patrons to wear face coverings. A public backlash followed, leading to AMC instituting a mask requirement when its theaters open back up, as of now scheduled for “mid-to-late August.” Regal (the U.S. subsidiary of Cineworld) and Cinemark subsequently announced that they will also require that patrons wear masks, save when they are eating in the auditorium.
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 addition to the company’s theaters, Cineplex recently reopened three of its food and entertainment centers: The Rec Room at Toronto’s Roundhouse, The Rec Room London, and Playdium Whitby. All are operating with reduced hours and enhanced safety and cleaning measures.
To welcome moviegoers back, Cineplex will be offering $5 movie tickets for both new and legacy releases, including Beauty and the Beast, Jaws, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Invisible Man, Bloodshot, Sonic The Hedgehog, My Spy, Jurassic Park, Gravity, and Jumanji: The Next Level.
“The past four months have given us a new appreciation for the importance of friends and family and the power of shared experiences with those we love,” said Cinexplex president and CEO Ellis Jacob in a statement. “Entertaining is what we do best, and we simply can’t wait to safely welcome guests back to our theatres, The Rec Room and Playdium for some much-deserved entertainment, fun and escape.”
Below is a full list of Cineplex locations slated to reopen.
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.
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 the U.S.—shut down in March when the novel coronavirus began spreading widely throughout the country.
GQT Movies expected reopening dates:
State
Open Date
Theater/City
MICHIGAN
8/14/2020
Cadillac 4, Cadillac, MI
TBD
All other lower MI sites on hold until state allows theaters to re-open
INDIANA
7/24/2020
Huntington Drive-in
8/7/2020
Eastside 10, Lafayette
TBD
Wabash Landing 9, West Lafayette
TBD
Lafayette 7, Lafayette
8/21/2020
Brownsburg 8, Brownsburg
TBD
Huntington 7, Huntington
8/28/2020
Lebanon 7, Lebanon
ILLINOIS
7/31/2020
Willow Knolls 14, Peoria
MISSOURI
8/7/2020
Forum 8, Columbia, MO
8/14/2020
Capital 8, Jefferson City, MO
GTC Movies lays out their reopening plan below:
FOR FACILITIES:
We will have signs in front of our facilities helping guests know our requirements
We will have capacity restrictions for each auditorium designed for safe distancing
We will enforce a minimum of three seats spacing between groups for safe distancing
We will place social distancing decals on the floor at the concession and box office lines
We will have shields at customer interface areas such as concessions and ticket booth
We will provide sanitizing stations for your convenience in our lobbies and restrooms
We will use an electrostatic sanitizing machine to sanitize broad areas such as seats
We will allow extra time between movies in order to properly sanitize the auditoriums
FOR EMPLOYEES
We will wear masks or face shields
We will conduct a wellness check including a questionnaire and the taking of temperatures
We will require frequent hand washing and sanitizing between touch points
We will have specific protocols on serving concessions for the protection of our guests
FOR GUESTS
We ask that guests that are sick not enter and return another time when feeling well
Masks will be required in common areas such as lobby, hallways, and concession areas
Guests will need to come to the concession counter for refills and retrieve a new drink cup or tub for popcorn to avoid re-use of those items
Guests will social distance themselves from another group by leaving three seats between
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 film series. The screening for that film drew 50 attendees, Town Hall’s largest turnout since reopening.
“I hope we’ll be back to showing first-run features after Labor Day,” said Markaverich. “In the meantime, it says a lot about the state of Hollywood’s output, and the lack of support for independent cinemas, that we have to turn to century-old comedies to keep from going dark or closing for good.”
Silent Film Comedy Week runs from Monday, Aug. 10 through Friday, Aug. 14, with a different show every night at 7:30 p.m. All shows will feature live music from accompanist Jeff Rapsis.
The schedule for Silent Film Comedy Week is:
Monday, Aug. 10 at 7:30 p.m.: ‘The General‘ (1926) starring Buster Keaton
Tuesday, Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m.: ‘Tramp, Tramp, Tramp‘ (1926) starring Harry Langdon
Wednesday, Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m.: ‘The Kid‘ (1921) starring Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan
Thursday, Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m.: ‘Grandma’s Boy‘ (1922) starring Harold Lloyd
Friday, Aug. 14 at 7:30 p.m.: ‘Steamboat Bill Jr.‘ (1928) starring Buster Keaton, Ernest Torrence
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 pop their wares over an open fire. He wheeled his new machine over to Chicago’s World’s Fair later that year, but “nobody wanted to buy the product. They didn’t know what it was,” says Olesen. Undeterred, Cretors began giving the popcorn away for free; after ten minutes, the line was so long that could start to charge. “With that one invention, he not only gets credited with inventing the first popcorn machine,” says Olesen, but also with being a “catalyst that started the concession industry.”
From humble beginnings, Cretors expanded. Horse-drawn carts added products like chewing gum, beverages, and cigarettes to the standard peanuts and popcorn, bringing their wares to fairgrounds, baseball parks, and movie theaters. They (the concessions vendors, not the horses) weren’t allowed inside the theaters until the Depression, when theater-owners realized that selling food—and keeping a cut of the proceeds—could help them stay open through tough times.
During World War II, Cretors took a government-mandated break from making popcorn machines for two years, shifting operations to parts for radios and machine guns to aid the war effort. In the ‘60s, Charles D. Cretors—current CEO and great-grandson of founder Charles—invented the industrial popcorn machine, allowing factories to make popcorn in large volume. And the ‘90s, when Olesen was new to the company, saw a boom in the construction of multiplexes, causing an increased need for popcorn machines among rapidly expanding chains. “It was a really busy time,” she modestly recalls.
Since that first foray into the World’s Fair, Cretors has stayed in the family while expanding its product line to include non-popcorn concessions machines and, more recently, Covid-19 safety equipment. It’s also expanded across borders; per Olesen, international sales makes up approximately 60 percent of Cretors’ business.
Not that Olesen knew much of the company’s history when she went in for that first, fated interview. She studied Elementary Education and science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but since “teaching jobs were hard to come by” she moved to New York to work for a father’s friend doing sales. Two years later, she’d realized that sales was for her but New York wasn’t. She moved back to Chicago and got in touch with a placement agency; her only hard and fast criteria on the company she wanted to work for is that they be the “Cadillac” of their particular industry, selling a top-of-the-line product that she’d be proud to promote.
“‘What? How many can you sell?,” Olesen recalls thinking when she found out she’d be interviewing for a job selling popcorn machines. But the interview wasn’t even over when she was convinced that Cretors was the sort of place where she could settle down permanently. “Sometimes you have to follow your gut. I knew it was a good company. I knew [it had] family-owned values. Good Midwestern values… [The Cretors family] treat you like family. And they’re fair. I think people just want to be treated well, treated fairly. It’s not hard to work here.” (Cretors is a family business in more ways than one for Olesen, who met her future husband Martin Olesen on the job when he moved over from Denmark to work in international sales. Yes, they did serve popcorn at the wedding.)
Though selling popcorn machines seems a far jump from what Olesen initially wanted to do for a living, she finds that her educational background comes in handy. In fact, teaching others all that she’s learned about Cretors since that first interview has become one of her favorite parts of the job. “I like to share the way I feel about the company, the way I feel about the industry,” she says. The industry of making popcorn proved much more interesting and complex than Olesen first imagined, particularly given Cretors’ focus on engineering and inventing. As a company, it mixes the high-tech with the old-school, integrating new techniques and materials into their products to provide improved ROI for customers while at the same time remaining connected to their past. “We have a small museum here. We have popcorn machines that go back to the 1800s. And they still work!,” Olesen says.
For Olesen, sharing her knowledge of popcorn—the history, the maintenance practices to keep machines working longer, the percentage of moisture needed in every kernel to make it pop (“about 13.5 to 14%,” if you’re curious)—comes with learning from others, as well: customers, fellow vendors, and all the various other attendees of the 20-plus trade shows Olesen typically attends in a year. Her very first trade show was the NAC’s yearly expo in 1991; it’s an organization she “cant’ speak enough about.”
“I think associations are important,” she adds—a fact that she believes people will come to feel more strongly in the wake of a global pandemic that’s brought trade shows to a near-standstill. “It’s not just meeting the customers. It’s meeting people like you. It’s meeting other vendors.” Getting “fresh perspectives” from people both inside and outside the industry—the NAC features members representing a variety of sports, recreation, and entertainment industries, not just movie theaters—allows Olesen to be more fluid in the way she operates. “If you’re not constantly reevaluating and learning from new stuff coming in,” she says, “then you’re missing out on a really good opportunity.”
For now, the face-to-face meetings Olesen prizes so much have ground to a halt. But working for a company with such a deep history has made Olesen hopeful that the theater industry will be able to bounce back. “Something on the outside of your business often affects your business. We’ve been through the Spanish Flu, two World Wars, the Great Depression. The coming of the television—everybody thought movie theaters would go out of business,” she says. “We know that it was popcorn and soft drinks that kept the movie theaters open in the 1920s. And it’ll be popcorn and soft drinks that bring it back out” today.
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 of 3 months and two days in 2019 to a minimum of three weekends (17-days), at which point the studio can move titles to PVOD.
AMC’s own PVOD platform is among those that will offer Universal titles immediately after the shortened window through a revenue-sharing plan with the studio. Other home entertainment windows, such as traditional Video on Demand (VOD) and Electronic Sell Through (EST), will remain unchanged.
“AMC enthusiastically embraces this new industry model both because we are participating in the entirety of the economics of the new structure, and because premium video on demand creates the added potential for increased movie studio profitability, which should in turn lead to the green-lighting of more theatrical movies,” commented AMC CEO Adam Aron in a statement.
“This multi-year agreement preserves exclusivity for theatrical viewing for at least the first three weekends of a film’s release, during which time a considerable majority of a movie’s theatrical box office revenue typically is generated. AMC will also share in these new revenue streams that will come to the movie ecosystem from premium video on demand. So, in total, Universal and AMC each believe this will expand the market and benefit us all. Focusing on the long-term health of our industry, we would note that just as restaurants have thrived even though every home has a kitchen, AMC is highly confident that moviegoers will come to our theaters in huge numbers in a post-pandemic world. As people enjoy getting out of their homes, we believe the mystical escape and magical communal experience offered at our theaters will always be a compelling draw, including as it does our big screens, big sound, and big seats not to mention the alluring aroma of our perfectly prepared popcorn. Universal and AMC have partnered in bringing stellar movies to moviegoers for a full century. With this historic industry changing agreement, together we will continue to do so and in a way that should drive success for us both,” stated Aron.
That plan was scrapped months later after heavy criticism from other exhibition circuits as to what they perceived to be a unilateral decision with longstanding and wide-ranging implications for the rest of the industry.
“Universal’s commitment to innovation in how we deliver content to audiences is what our artists, partners and shareholders all expect of us, and we are excited about the opportunity this new structure presents to grow our business,” stated Vice Chairman and Chief Distribution Officer of UFEG Peter Levinsohn in a press release. “We are grateful to AMC for their partnership and the leadership they have shown in working with us to reach this historic deal.”
“The theatrical experience continues to be the cornerstone of our business,” added Donna Langley, Chairman, UFEG. “The partnership we’ve forged with AMC is driven by our collective desire to ensure a thriving future for the film distribution ecosystem and to meet consumer demand with flexibility and optionality.”
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 (or 8.4 million admissions) at the same point, it nonetheless represents the first real bright spot for the Korean theatrical business since the coronavirus pandemic first hit the country in late January. Indeed, in the first six months of this year, attendance at Korean theaters decreased 70.3% versus the same period in 2019, while sales revenue decreased 70.6%.
Second place went to Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin, which took in an additional ₩292,905,420 from 44,244 admissions, bringing its total in Korea to ₩107,390,339,139. The family blockbuster first opened in the country last May and was re-released this weekend.
Among Disney’s live-action remakes, Aladdin is by far the most successful in Korea. Trailing far behind in second place is The Lion King, which finished its run in the country with ₩41,518,977,430 (over 4.7 million admissions).
Another Korean zombie film, #Alive, dropped one spot to third place in its fifth weekend, bringing in ₩132,165,740 from 20,995 admissions. The Korean film has a cume of ₩15,885,240,860 since opening in late June.
The French comedy-fantasy A Mermaid in Paris opened to ₩106,813,500 from 11,525 admissions, good for fifth place. The Mathias Malzieu-directed film has a total of ₩145,804,000 since opening on Thursday.
Peninsula, Image Courtesy Well Go USA
In sixth place, the very timely title Pandemic opened to ₩99,141,040 from 10,987 admissions, giving it a total of ₩150,220,600 since opening on July 22.
Rounding out the Top 10, Japanese film Blue Hour finished in seventh place with ₩76,109,820 from 8,207 admission for a total of ₩143,366,480 since opening on July 22; You As a Boy brought in ₩74,732,400 in eighth place from 8,126 admission for a tally of ₩404,153,700 through the end of its third weekend; Disney-Pixar’s Onward finished in ninth place with ₩53,734,760 from 6,762 admissions and a total of ₩3,462,087,580; and in tenth, Super Race took in ₩44,767,280 from 5,563 admissions for a total of ₩46,781,080 since opening on July 23.
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.
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 been legally allowed to open since July 4.
“Welcoming theatergoers back to our cinemas will be a celebration for not only our team and our industry, but most importantly for the fans who have been anxiously awaiting the year’s upcoming releases,” said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld. “With the health and safety of our staff, customers and communities as our top priority, we are happy to invite audiences to return to the timeless theatrical experience that we have all dearly missed.”
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 StrikesBack 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 gradually increasing its presence in the market after the restart, reopening at 47 sites, followed by 95 in last weekend’s tally, to 123 in its latest frame. The animated title had played across 632 and 636 sites in its two March weekends before Covid-19 closures. Empire similarly increased from 101 to 115 cinemas.
The weekend’s top 15 films actually declined -10.5 percent versus last weekend, from £264,645 to £241,931. The top 15 films were down -99 percent versus this same weekend last year, when The Lion King led with £16,671,765.
Of the top 15 films this weekend, seven were originally released within the past year, while eight were older.
Of the top 15 films this weekend, 13 were from the U.S, one was from Australia (action thriller Black Water: Abyss, ranking fourth), one was from Denmark (animated fantasy Dreambuilders, ranking sixth).
The three The Lord of the Rings films will be re-released in the U.K. next weekend.
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 weekly—but the public hasn’t come. I waste less money shutting down than asking my teams to come over and do nothing. It’s demoralizing,” says the operator.
Domestic titles haven’t been able to take advantage of the gaps created by a lack of Hollywood films, with some national films going straight to VOD instead.
The FNCF is asking for financial aid from the country’s cultural sector to help offset some of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Boxoffice Pro France, attendance at French cinemas is down by 70 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels.
In this context, the FNCF is calling an aid package for cinemas “absolutely necessary,” asking that the government “in an extremely urgent manner, undertake a strong and ambitious act of financial aid for cinemas to revive a cultural economy unique in the world by its level of attendance, the diversity of its programming, and, above all, a driving force for public morale and economic vitality at the heart of all regions .”
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 life of a nomad following the economic collapse of her small town.
Later the evening of the 11th, the film will have its American premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, typically a key stop on the film festival calendar for awards hopefuls. Telluride, which made the decision to cancel its 2020 edition last month, will host Nomadland at a “Telluride from Los Angeles” drive-in screening in Los Angeles, with Zhao and McDormand making in-person appearances.
The New York Film Festival has also announced Nomadland as the Centerpiece Selection of its 2020 festival.
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 points this summer as COVID-19 spiked in new regions across the U.S.
With a focus on opening abroad first now, Warner Bros. is currently set to offer the first major new release on a global scale as summer winds down. The news will surely be welcomed by international exhibitors as many countries have reopened theaters safely, successfully, and with growing consumer demand for new content.
Additionally, the studio confirmed Inception‘s 10th Anniversary Event will now aim for an August 21 release.
More information to follow as it’s confirmed by the studio.
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 response to this campaign has exceeded our expectations, and this week is especially crucial for moviegoers across the country to show support,” says Esther Baruh, Director of Government Relations for NATO. “Theaters are the beating hearts of the communities they serve. They drive local economies and boost neighborhood businesses. But without more help from Congress, we fear for the future of the industry.”
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 response to this campaign has exceeded our expectations, and this week is especially crucial for moviegoers across the country to show support,” says Esther Baruh, Director of Government Relations for NATO. “Theaters are the beating hearts of the communities they serve. They drive local economies and boost neighborhood businesses. But without more help from Congress, we fear for the future of the industry.”
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) and grants through the Small Business Administration (SBA), and $454 billion for the Treasury Department to set up loans and loan guarantee programs. The legislation also included a significant expansion of unemployment insurance eligibility criteria and a $600 weekly supplement for individuals on unemployment.
The PPP loan program is a forgivable loan that, as enacted, would allow borrowers to borrow up to 2.5 months of their average 2019 payroll amount to spend on a number of eligible expenses, with up to 100 percent forgiveness depending on salary and head-count maintenance requirements. However, in subsequent regulation, the SBA and Treasury made significant modifications to the program, including a requirement that 75 percent of any forgivable amount be spent on payroll, regardless of whether a borrower met the “safe harbor” provisions of the PPP as described in the CARES Act. NATO worked to communicate these changes to members, while also pushing Congress to revise the terms to reflect the original intent and flexibility. Due to aggressive lobbying by NATO, the PPP was modified by subsequent legislation to allow for greater flexibility in spending the loan (reducing the payroll spend to 60 percent); allowing for a significant increase in the forgiveness period (from 8 weeks to 24 weeks); and extending the maturity period to five years for new loans, among other fixes. NATO will continue to lobby for PPP modifications including higher loan caps and/or the ability for borrowers to take on multiple loans.
The CARES Act also allocated $454 billion for large and midsize companies via loans and loan guarantees administered by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. However, currently the only program that has been implemented is the Main Street Lending Facility (MSLF), which uses a small portion of the allocated funds toward loans for small and midsize businesses. As of early July, the MSLF was still not fully operational, and many lenders have expressed concerns about the program. Exhibitors specifically have also shared concerns about EBITDA caps that are prohibitively low. We will continue to share information as it becomes available and to lobby for more flexible uses of the Treasury funds, particularly for shuttered industries such as movie theaters.
Given the duration of the pandemic, Congress recognized that more assistance is needed. In June, the House passed further Covid relief legislation called the HEROES Act, and the Senate is expected to respond with a different bill at the end of July or beginning of August. Potential proposals in the forthcoming legislation include: additional loan options for businesses that have not received adequate relief; a limited liability shield for businesses that reopen; tax credits for personal protective equipment; either an extension of the pandemic unemployment assistance or a rehiring bonus; and direct assistance for families and individuals. NATO will continue to lobby aggressively for the needs of all exhibitors to help our members stay solvent and survive this period.
Cinema Reopening Operations
Earlier this year, even before movie theaters were shut down by government mandate, NATO members were taking steps to mitigate the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. As awareness of the pandemic spread, theater owners were making sure that recommended health and hygiene practices (frequent hand washing, staying home if ill, etc.) were being followed by staff; that cleaning and sanitization practices were stepped up; that physical distancing was implemented; and that showtimes were adjusted to accommodate enhanced cleaning between screenings.
When theater closures were mandated, theater owners and their teams explored additional health and safety measures and made plans to reopen their cinemas with robust precautions in place to protect employees and guests from exposure to Covid-19. To help members with this effort, NATO invited operations leaders, representing 11 NATO-member companies, to come together as NATO’s Cinema Reopening Operations Task Force.
Recognizing that health and safety issues are always company-by-company, location-by-location decisions, the working group did not attempt to make industry-wide recommendations or suggest one specific model. Rather, the group guided the development of resources that identify issues for individual companies to contemplate as they make their reopening plans. With the input and support of the working group, NATO held two webinars that focused on the operational considerations of reopening cinemas and published a Covid-19 cinema reopening considerations document and an accompanying preopening planning-stage checklist, which were shared with all NATO members. These resources address cleaning and sanitizing, employee health and personal hygiene, and physical distancing, as well as food and beverage operations, and were well received by NATO members.
NATO members have used these resources, in combination with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, and other sources, to develop operational plans and protocols that have, in many cases, helped local governments have confidence to authorize reopenings in their jurisdictions. Additionally, NATO member companies have been nimble and responsive to new information and evolving guidance from federal, state, and local authorities. Some plans have been revised as more is learned about the efficacy of specific protocols and as moviegoers’ expectations and comfort with various protocols evolve.
Communications and Marketing
NATO’s communications team began preparing for the pandemic in January. As reports of a growing coronavirus epidemic in China began to circulate, we began research into updating NATO’s “Preparing for a Flu Pandemic,” first developed in 2009 in response to the N1H1 outbreak. The document, along with NATO’s “Crisis Management Handbook” was distributed to members at the end of January. As the pandemic intensified and spread, NATO was heavily engaged with the press on managing perceptions of the imminent threat to the industry, particularly leading up to CinemaCon.
With the WHO declaring a global pandemic in mid-March, NATO canceled CinemaCon, and most movie theater companies began closing their doors. NATO released a statement noting the responsible actions of theater owners and expressing optimism for the future of the industry. NATO’s communication strategy shifted to support of lobbying for federal aid to movie theaters and other industries and employees affected by the nationwide shutdown. We commissioned and placed a powerful opinion piece by Christopher Nolan in The Washington Post on the importance of movie theaters to our economy and culture.
Throughout the shutdown, we have continued to press the importance of aid for the industry, its underlying strength when things return to normal, and its responsible and rational approach to reopening safely in thousands of media outlets around the world. To support this messaging, we have encouraged and facilitated the participation of theater owners of all sizes to tell their stories directly. These efforts are ongoing.
NATO has also established a Media Relations/Research Task Force to share and aid in communications by members to their local press and patrons. In coordination with the Reopening Operations Task Force, it has encouraged the development of direct and clear communication of safety and sanitation protocols that consumer research has shown will be most effective in reassuring the public that theaters are reopening responsibly and safely.
NATO has also been engaged in a cross-industry effort with the major studios and other partners to create a reopening marketing campaign that celebrates the magic of moviegoing. That effort is ongoing and contingent on the broad opening of the industry nationwide—indeed worldwide—and the return of wide-release films.
Membership Services
Since the cancellation of CinemaCon 2020 and the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, NATO’s membership services have shifted toward several key topics. The first involved tracking studio activity and their possible programming timetables. Another important issue is U.S. legislation and policy movement regarding how businesses and their employees stay solvent until they can open back up. This included funding and advocating programs within the industry to assist cinema employees. Next, NATO observed support for moviegoing and analyzed how to get people back into cinemas when the time comes through a strategic public relations campaign. Finally, NATO needed to examine reopening operation procedures, as cinemas would prepare to welcome patrons again.
NATO’s weekly State of the Industry webinar broadcasts every Thursday afternoon (Washington, D.C. time) to more than 400 member-company personnel around the world. As circumstances change rapidly in this current environment, the need to relay information on a timely basis remains a high priority. In addition to the SOTI webinars, NATO offers webinars on many of the topics mentioned above, including specific federal loan programs, P.R. advice, and shared reopening experiences from an operations standpoint. The webinar and tele-video platform has become a staple for businesses during the pandemic, and NATO intends to continue to provide much valuable information to its members throughout this ordeal.
NATO staff have been working diligently on behalf of all cinemas to ensure that they have an industry to return to once cinemas fully reopen. We understand that cinema owners have anxiety, frustration, and concern about the future of the exhibition industry. The past few months have been full of stressful situations and difficult decisions. Our members have found value in NATO’s website posts, daily article updates, weekly webinars, and regular reports on developments within the industry. Thank you for your constant support, and we look forward to working with you this year.
Dues Hiatus
The month of July marks the beginning of NATO’s fiscal year. For the 2020–21 fiscal year, the NATO Executive Board authorized a one-time dues-free year of membership through June 30, 2021. Any cinema that has yet to join NATO, please contact David Binet (db@natodc.com) to take advantage of the current offer. During this period of uncertainty and great challenge, NATO proudly represents our members and all cinemas in the fight for the return of the exhibition industry.
Employee Relief Programs
Several hundred thousand movie theater employees all across the world were furloughed when theaters were forced to close. In the U.S., the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation (WRMPPF) stepped up immediately to provide financial aid to those most in need. With $1.2 million in funding from Will Rogers’ reserves, and a $1 million contribution from NATO, phase 1 of the Will Rogers Covid-19 Emergency Grant Program provided an immediate $300 grant to 7,300 furloughed employees in the U.S.
A comparable grant program was launched by the Canadian Picture Pioneers (CPP) to provide financial relief to furloughed employees in Canada, and NATO supported that effort with a contribution of $100,000 CAD.
Our hats are off to our friends at WRMPPF and CPP for undertaking and managing these important programs that gave a much-needed financial lift to industry employees negatively affected by the closures.
WRMPPF has now moved to phase 2 of its Covid-19 relief program, which offers assistance on a more individualized basis, similar to its ongoing assistance program. The fundraising for phase 2 was given a nice boost by Lionsgate, as the company donated the proceeds of its Lionsgate Live! movie screenings to Will Rogers.
NATO Events
The cancellation of CinemaCon 2020 was another disappointment earlier this year. As we look ahead to better times, we are looking forward to gathering, virtually or in person, at the Beverly Hilton this October, for NATO’s Fall Meetings. Stay tuned for more details. At the same time, we are already working hard on new plans to celebrate to 10th edition of CinemaCon, scheduled for April 26–29, 2021 at Caesars Palace.
Global Cinema Federation
In April, the Global Cinema Federation released a statement on its commitment to ensuring the survival of cinemas through the Covid-19 crisis. Over these last few months, the GCF executive committee has held several virtual meetings to continue to share updates on industry developments, including reopenings and back-to-the-cinema campaign ideas. The GCF has communicated with studios about the commitment to reopening safely in time for wide releases of upcoming films. The GCF has also worked on collecting information from theater owners operating in territories around the world about the impact of Covid-19 on our industry. Chairman Alejandro RamÃrez Magaña addressed the virtual CineEurope crowd on June 17 with an industry message from the Global Cinema Federation. In his address he said, “We must demonstrate our resilience, which is what has always made us a solid, united, and successful industry. Our coordinated efforts to get the public back into movie theaters will make the difference in our industry, which I am certain will return stronger than ever.”
