Moviegoers in Prince George will have to wait a little longer to head to the theatre.
Cineplex is opening eight of its BC locations tomorrow (Friday), five of those are in the Lower Mainland while the others will be in Victoria, Kelowna, and Nanaimo.
Spokesperson, Sarah Van Lange spoke with MyPGNow.com on the phased-in approach.
“I know that communities are looking to have their local theatres open up right away but right now, we’re focusing on the major urban centres. There are 24 theatres across British Columbia and we have eight openings on Friday with the hope of getting the rest up by the end of July.”
However, Van Lange added anyone who attends can expect a more spacious experience.
“You can reserve seats in pairs and then every other row will be empty but as a ballpark range we will have 60 to 80% less capacity.”
“We’ve really looked at the past three and a half to four months to look at all of our buildings, look at all of our processes, go through everything with a fine-toothed comb so that when we re-open our doors we are ready and that it’s a safe place for not only our team but our guests as well.”
She admitted while the past while has been excruciatingly tough, Cineplex has found creative ways to generate some semblance of revenue.
“Having our buildings closed for three and a half, four months has had a really significant impact on our business but the one piece we have been able to continue is that we have been able to stay in contact with our guests and movie lovers through the Cineplex store and we’ve also been offering our famous popcorn on Skip the Dishes and Uber Eats.”
Some of the new safety measures expected to be rolled out include:
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- Launching reserved seating in all auditoriums across Canada; seating options will be automatically blocked off to ensure proper distance in every direction between guests
- Reducing capacity in all auditoriums to allow for physical distancing
- Enhancing cleaning practices throughout our facilities, with particular focus on high-contact surfaces, restrooms, and seats
- Accepting debit and credit payments only, with the exception of gift card purchases
- Limiting food offerings in theatres to Cineplex’s famous popcorn and other core concessions
- Ensuring employees have the personal protective equipment they need
- Making hand sanitizer readily available for guests and employees throughout our buildings
- Keeping VIP Cinemas closed for now
