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Can the movie industry be saved? Theater owners hope Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ will bring moviegoers back

Most Cleveland theaters have re-opened, and are ready to welcome film fans with limited capacity and COVID-19 precautions

CLEVELAND — It’s nearly showtime. Next week will be a telling week for the future of the movie industry. On Thursday, Sept. 3 Christopher Nolan’s twisty sci-fi epic “Tenet” opens — the highly-anticipated movie expected to bring people back to the theaters, if they are willing to go. On Friday, however, Disney’s “Mulan,” which was also expected to be a consumer catalyst, will open directly streaming on Disney+.

“Tenet,” originally scheduled to open July 17, will be shown at several theaters in Cleveland, which have been given the green light to re-open from the state with a limited capacity. Local venues are running at 50% or less. Indoor theaters in several states remain closed, however, including in California and New York. Until now, summer moviegoing has been almost exclusively relegated to drive-ins, which have been showing classic films.

Last weekend marked the first wide release film in America since the coronavirus pandemic hit; Russell Crowe’s “Unhinged” took in $4 million in 1,823 theaters and was the top film in the country. In contrast, a mid-level films like “Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw” took in $61 million on more than 4,000 screens in August of 2019.

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Patrick Corcoran, Vice President & Chief Communications Officer for the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), representing 600 companies and 35,000 screens, says the movie industry is in a unique situation in regards to COVID-19.

“Unlike restaurants, which are locally supplied and if they re-open they have their supply right back, movies are local and national and international. So even if you are allowed to reopen, you can’t get new movies in the pipelines. …. most theaters are holding on for now, but even the ones that have been open since May haven’t had any new releases to play.”

Two Cleveland Cinemas chain theaters, Chagrin Cinemas and the Cedar Lee opened August 21, showing new releases. Both will show “Tenet” this week.

Owner Jon Forman is capping his theater’s capacity at 50%, though in reality he says it is less than that because after each ticket or group is sold, surrounding seats are blocked off.

“It’s a very challenging and frightening time for anybody in business right now,” says Forman, who began his company in 1977. Cleveland Cinemas also owns or manages the Capitol Theatre, Tower City Cinemas and the Apollo Theatre in Oberlin, none of which have re-opened. “We’re being cautious,” he says.

Atlas has added a unique option to lure families. Starting at $50, you can rent a whole theater and have any new release or DVD shown for your group.

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“Families needed an option to come out if they don’t feel safe to sit around other customers,” says Saluan.

He, too, laments “Mulan” going straight to VOD and sees “Tenet” as a bellwether.

“It’s very important,” he notes. “New releases started last week with ‘Unhinged,’ which did OK, but it was an R rating. … ‘Tenet’ (PG-13) is getting lots of hype and it’s done very well in China and Europe. We need new content, good content.

“It’s been a very, very challenging time because we face two problems, shutting down and the pandemic for four or five months with no income, then once we were told we can open we did not have content. We’re waiting on Hollywood for content. It’s like opening a restaurant without food. How can we run our business?”

Forman echoes this sentiment. Many big films planned for 2020 have been put on hold indefinitely, including “Wonder Woman 1984,” “The French Dispatch” and “Jungle Cruise.”

“There are not a lot of big releases coming up until James Bond around Thanksgiving. So many are holding their breath that ‘Tenet’ is the panacea that brings people back.”

“There really is a lot riding on it,” says NATO’s Corcoran. “For audiences, it’s going to be a signal that theaters can be operated safely, and we hope they tell their friends and family about the experience.

“What it’s going to show to the studios is that people are willing to come out to movie theaters and even under restrictions and social distancing you can do it. Studios won’t be looking at the big opening weekend as the measure. They’ll be looking over weeks, since audiences have to be spaced out. And they are going to be deciding how they release movies in the next weeks and months. We expect that if things go well, studios will decide, ‘yes, we can open movies.’”

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