AMC Theatres fans are not happy about the theater chain's lack of a mask policy. People discovered that the company was not going to enforce a mask requirement as they start to reopen on July 15th. There will still be cleaning procedures, hand sanitization stations, and contactless concessions. But, the absence of a mask policy is going to be a tough one to straddle. California announced today that all visitors in movie theaters and other public areas will have to abide by the mask policy, but other states are sure to have their own takes. 450 of the locations will open their doors, but it remains unclear how much of a stress this will put on customers who opt to reenter theaters. Variety talked to AMC CEO Adam Aron about the coming weeks, and the executive spoke his mind.
"We did not want to be drawn into a political controversy," Aron explained. "We thought it might be counterproductive if we forced mask wearing on those people who believe strongly that it is not necessary. We think that the vast majority of AMC guests will be wearing masks. When I go to an AMC feature, I will certainly be wearing a mask and leading by example."
"We didn't rush to reopen," he mentioned. "There were some jurisdictions in some states, such as Georgia and Texas, that allowed people to reopen theaters in mid-May. We opted to remain closed, so we could give the country time to get a better handle on coronavirus. We wanted to use this time to figure out how best to open and how to do so safely."
"In my heart of hearts, I think we can manage AMC through this crisis," Aron continued. "There are no guarantees and nobody knows what coronavirus will look like in the winter or how long it will take to get a vaccine, but I can tell you that we have a very able management team here. We're going to make every effort to make sure that AMC continues to be well positioned as a leader of the movie theater industry."
Will you be going to the theater in the coming weeks? Let us know down in the comments! Check out some of the fan responses down below: