Even as the country starts to slowly reopen in certain areas, it may be a while before citizens can start to go back to the movie theater. That’s because several of the national theater chains will be hard-pressed to open due to a lack of content to show.
AMC theaters announced Friday they will not reopen any of their more than 6,000 theaters until they have something new put on their screens. And that could be as late as July. That includes the AMC Classic Patriot in Lawton.
“As we plan our reopening, the health and safety of our guests and associates is our absolute highest priority,” AMC said in a statement. “To be able to open, we also need a line of sight into a regular schedule of new theatrical blockbusters that get people truly excited about returning to their favorite movie theaters.
“Those blockbusters are scheduled to return this summer, beginning with Warner Brothers’ Tenet and Disney’s Mulan, with many more major titles scheduled immediately thereafter.” Tenet is currently on track to be released on July 17. That is the earliest any major studio has announced for its films. Mulan was scheduled to open in March. It now has a national release date of July 24.
No other major films have earlier release dates. “While we expect to open our theaters in the weeks ahead of these new blockbusters, utilizing creative programming of immensely popular previously released films, we would be wise to do so only directly in advance of the release of major new movie titles,” AMC stated.
“AMC is currently working through every detail required to successfully showcase these exciting new releases in an environment that’s safe and welcoming for moviegoers, and we will share those details as we get closer to the dates when our theaters will reopen.” It’s not just AMC theaters who will have problems filling seats. Every major studio has had to reset its plans for its summer blockbusters to look toward late 2020 and into 2021.
The new James Bond film, No Time to Kill, has been moved to Nov. 25, right before Thanksgiving. Marvel’s Black Widow will not hit theaters until Nov. 6. It was originally scheduled for May 1. Other films that been pushed back to later this year include A Quiet Place II, Wonder Woman 1984 and Top Gun. Tom Cruise’s fighter pilot film will get a pre-Christmas release on Dec. 23.
Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile remake with Kenneth Branagh, and Godzilla vs. Kong are scheduled to debut this fall. However, other major films have been rescheduled for 2021. They include Peter Rabbit 2, F9, Morbius and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.