As Dallas-Fort Worth movie theaters reopen, masks required except for popcorn munching
Someone who decides to give the next movie they see two thumbs up will want to sanitize them.
After five months, watching a film indoors on a large screen at the same time as strangers is again a possibility.
Popcorn kernels are snapping anew, and screens that had been dark across the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area are coming to life.
Movie theaters in the region are, with others in the United States, beginning to reopen. National chain theater companies are again showing films after a coronavirus outbreak in March made movies an entertainment element that fell in with a long list of parts of life that became unsafe.
Many theaters that did not plan to open on Thursday or Friday will begin to sell tickets next week. Others will dust off projectors in early September.
The experience will be radically different.
Floors that had long been sticky as the result of spilled soda are likely to not remain that way for long as cleaning becomes vigorous.
At Cinemark theaters, concession stand surfaces, door handles, drink stations, self-ticketing kiosks, benches and restrooms will be sanitized every 30 minutes, the company said.
Theaters will have staggered show times to maximize physical distancing.
“Face masks are mandatory for all guests within the theatre and may only be removed for eating and drinking in the auditoriums,” Cinemark said. Its auditoriums will have limited capacities.
The procedure will be much the same at Alamo Drafthouse, where the last day of operation at the North Richland Hills and Denton locations was March 16.
The six Alamo Drafthouse locations in North Texas will reopen over the next week. One of the the company’s Dallas theaters, in Lake Highlands, opened on Thursday. Locations in Dallas and Richardson are to do the same on Monday. Alamo Drafthouse theaters in North Richland Hills and Denton will open on Tuesday.
Movie theaters that opened on Thursday include AMC locations in Grapevine, Mesquite, Frisco, Garland, Irving Dallas and Arlington.
The company said there would be significant reductions to the tickets available for each show and seat blocking in reserved-seating auditoriums to allow for social distancing. More time between shows will allow for thorough cleaning, AMC said.
Mask wearing for people watching movies and employees will be compulsory.
