A view of the Regal Loews Cinemas movie theater in Times Square in New York City.
Noam Galai | Getty Images
After nearly a year of closings, New York City cinemas are set to open on March 5, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
Cinemas in the city are allowed to operate at 25% capacity, in accordance with the rules currently in place for venues in the rest of New York state.
The cinema announcement follows a recent series of steps the governor has taken in recent weeks to reopen the state’s economy. Major New York City arenas such as Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden are preparing to welcome a limited number of fans to live basketball games starting Tuesday.
Last week, Cuomo said indoor family entertainment centers, such as arcades, trampoline parks and laser tag facilities, could reopen from March 26, and open-air theme parks could return on April 9 with limited capacity.
Notably, March 5 also marks the day Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” becomes available in theaters and on Disney + and Lionsgate’s “Chaos Walking” in theaters. Later in March, Warner Bros. “Godzilla v. Kong” will also make its debut.
Masks required
Cinemas in New York will be aligned with the rest of the state: 25% capacity; no more than 50 people per showing; masks; assigned seats; social distance; staff to control occupancy, traffic and seating to To ensure compliance, “Cuomo said.” They need the improved air filtration, ventilation, and purification standards that DOH has specified. “
Cuomo has said repeatedly that the state has seen the end of its post-holiday coronavirus spike, while at the same time warning of the emergence of highly contagious strains of virus, such as the B.1.1.7 strain first identified in the UK, the The state’s progress could be derailed and its downtrend in cases.
New York reports a weekly average of 7,400 Covid-19 cases per day, down more than 13% from a week ago and the state’s lowest average since early December, according to a CNBC analysis of data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
“Theater owners are delighted to announce that New York City cinemas may be safely reopened,” the National Association of Theater Owners said in a statement. “Strict voluntary health and safety protocols have made it possible for cinemas across the country to operate safely and responsibly for months with higher capacity limits without a single outbreak of COVID-19 being traced to movie theaters.”
“New York City is a major US cinema market where reopening gives movie distributors confidence in determining and keeping their theatrical release dates, and is an important step in the recovery of the entire industry,” said the group. represents more than 33,000 movie screens in the US.
An important market
New York City is an extremely important hub for movie ticket sales. There are nearly 300 movie theaters in New York State, but the main geographic benchmark analysts focus on is New York’s designated market area, or DMA.
This is an area around New York City that includes part of Connecticut and New Jersey and excludes movie theaters north of Albany and west of Cooperstown. Within this DMA there are 234 cinemas which represent 7.4% of the total domestic box office according to Comscore.
That’s the second-highest driver of ticket sales in the US, just behind the Los Angeles DMA, which accounts for 8.9%.
New York City has above-average ticket prices and population density, meaning it generates more money for the industry than other parts of the United States and Canada. That’s one of the reasons studios love to put movies on the calendar and wait for New York theaters to reopen to the public.
The city also had tremendous ad penetration. Movies that thrive in the city generate buzz that help sell tickets in other parts of the country.
Not to mention, New York City is symbolically important as it is one of the places where a high concentration of Hollywood producers, directors and actors live in the area.