After my very personal blog post last week about Cineworld's pandemic timeline I was pleased to see that their 2 main competitors; Vue & Odeon, would also be opening again. But how soon?
Odeon and Vue haven't had much publicity throughout the pandemic, however Cineworld were on the ball and managed to strike a deal with Warner Bros. which could be considered as a 45 day head start, whereby as of January 2022 the theatres will be given access to the movie ahead of the streaming services, but not for so long that it's lost momentum by the time it's available for home viewing. For the UK it's actually 31 days, with a larger window for the movies they're opening to a pre-agreed box office target. As a standard currently there's a 90 day window for cinemas so that's been halved for the sake of saving the industry. Shock! Horror! What ever will they do next?!
A fine balance needs to be struck, as it could blow up in the faces of the distributors and cinemas should fans choose to wait it out and become a comfy lil' potato on their sofa for new movie releases. The release of Trolls World Tour in 2020 was a relatively new tactic, with Universal opting to have it available to rent rather than relying solely on the reopening of the entertainment sector. A wise choice in my eyes, since they'd moved it multiple times thanks to the everchanging dates for No Time to Die, which I think is singlehandedly crippling the cinema revival. In the USA Trolls was released for a short time at AMC theatres which coincided with the movie being readily available to those opting to use on demand, but the AMC group took the hump and decided they'd NEVER show another movie from that studio, ever again! Which wasn't the case for long, as an agreement was reached shortly after between Universal and AMC and they're now besties again. So fetch! This was all following on from trendsetters Disney, whose Onward quickly became available for rental just two weeks after cinema release, due to cinema closures announced globally. Thankfully this was available to the Disney+ subscribers relatively swiftly. Mulan would also become available to rent, but it was a sting to those subscribers who were already paying a monthly fee to enjoy content, as it wouldn't be free until many months down the line. Understandable to some degree because there could be a huge shortfall if they were looking at it having the same dire start to the box office as Onward did. Their prices were a little bit questionable to me since I'd be renting it for me, myself and I, with my other half giving zero foxtrot uniform charlie kilo sierras about said movie, but I can appreciate that the price was targeted for the family market, and perhaps multiple occupancy households, so if it was £20 for you to rent it you were still better off watching at home because a trip to the cinema would cost upwards of £30 for a household of three or more.
Odeon have been quiet on the western front, with no news bulletins on their website crying out for customers to book tickets, just a tiny little notice at the top of the webpage which says "We'll be reopening our cinemas across the UK from 17th May subject to government guidelines." If you sign up to their mailing list they'll let you know when you can book tickets though, so if Odeon is the chain for you it's worth making sure you get those updates. They've got a page with current release dates for upcoming movies, with an overwhelming amount of titles on there compared to the previously given dates in my mopey Cineworld sundaes blog post, so it's worth taking a look here. I mean, a new Boss Baby movie and a new Hotel Transylvania - these are now the titles I'm looking forward to the most in 2021! It's not clear whether they will also be acquiring titles to screen on the 45 day release window that the others are looking at.
Vue's CEO Tim Richards is complimentary of their "new model" which could see them working alongside studios and distributors to garner a 45-day release window. Where have we heard of that before? ...
Vue cinemas have a vast quantity of locations across Europe, and along with opening in the UK May 17th they'll be looking to open in France May 19th and Italy May 20th. They've already set some rules in place for their French customers, including a 9pm curfew, 35% maximum capacity and they've secured 20 releases already too. Très bien! Will we have the same experience here in England? They do have some additional info on their website so here are the important measures they'll be taking in order to make their cinema a safe space for all customers.
With an enhanced online booking customers are encouraged to book in advance of their trip to the cinema, with customers able to access tickets through the app on their smart device or showing their booking confirmation. This means no need to wait around at kiosks, and minimises the need for patrons to engage with other customers and staff unnecessarily.
When booking, customers aged 16 & over will be asked to give details for a Test & Trace initiative, to help keep everyone in attendance safe. If you haven't booked online you'll need to check in using the NHS Covid-19 app.
The booking system has physically distanced seating enforced, so rest assured you won't have to sit next to a stranger like the good old days. The spacing will meet the current government guidelines.
Masks must be worn unless you're eating and drinking. And on this note, don't be a douche and pretend you're taking a drink the whole way through the movie so you don't have to wear a mask. Not cool!
Hand sanitiser will be strategically located around the venue for customers to use as and when they please.
Enhanced cleaning measures will be implemented including disinfecting every screen; including every arm rest, between each screening, with additional cleaning time made available for this. Again, this isn't the fault of the staff this is for our safety so please just deal with the minor inconveniences without being disruptive or abusive.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to keep an eye on our blog for all of the latest updates!
CB
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