Georgia To Reopen Movie Theaters This Month

Despite theater chains being closed nationwide due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, movie theaters in the state of Georgia will be given the opportunity to re-open at the end of the month. Governor Brian Kemp made the announcement on Monday, April 20, confirming that the state will allow several business to re-open in one weeks time on Monday, April 27. Kemp said: "The entities in which I am re-opening are not re-opening as business as usual. Each of these entities will subject to specific restrictions including adherence to the minimum basic operations, social distancing and regular sanitation."

He added, "Minimum basic operations includes but is not limited to screening workers for fever and respiratory illness, enhancing workplace sanitation, wearing glvoes and masks if appropriate, separating work spaces by at least six feet, and tele-working where at all possible, and implementing staggered shifts. Subject to the specific social distancing and sanitation mandates, theaters, private social clubs and restaurant dine-in services will be allowed to reopen on Monday, April 27."

At this point it is unclear how many movie theaters will in fact re-open after the Governor's announcement, with AMC Theaters confirming just four weeks ago that their establishments would remain closed for 6 to 12 weeks. In the time since the spread of the virus, and its effects on the economy, has grown significantly, so any major chains could be in for a bad time if they do decide to re-open.

Another major hurdle in the way of theaters that will consider re-opening is what they will play in their theaters. Almost the entire summer movie slate of blockbusters have been delayed until later in the year or even 2021 as movie studios have moved their films around and re-scheduled their entire plans for the year. It's possible that theaters could screen older films instead, but this would still require a booking from the studios themselves, some of whom may not want to grant one in order to keep people at home.

Christopher Nolan's Tenet remains one of the only movies that hasn't been delayed, but it isn't scheduled to be released until July 17th. Disney's live-action Mulan has been delayed until July 24th, with movies like The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Wonder Woman 1984, and Bill and Ted Face the Music all set to arrive in theaters in August.

"In the days ahead, we will be evaluating the data and conferring with public health officials to determine the best course of action for those establishments," Kemp concluded. "By taking this measured action we will get Georgians back to work safely without undermining the progress that we all have made in this battle against COVID-19. Today's announcement is a small step forward and should be treated as such. The shelter place order is still active and will expire at 11:59 PM on April the 30th for most Georgians. We urge everyone to continue to follow CDC and DPH guidance by sheltering in place as often as you can."

As of this writing there are 18,947 cases of COVID-19 in the state of Georgia with 18.9% of those cases needing hospitalization. There have been 733 total deaths in the state from the coronavirus.

It's worth noting that movie theaters in China reportedly began to re-open in mid-March, with theaters opening for business on March 23 and just four days later the Chinese government ordered them closed once again. Reuters previously reported that theater operators are aiming to reopen their doors by late July, which will still allow for some semblance of a summer movie season, but seems like a pipe-dream for the time being as well.

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