Wow, this is interesting. I’ve grown so used to writing stories about something getting delayed or canceled that I’ve forgotten what it feels like to write about the opposite. But that may be what’s happening here. Maybe. What am I talking about? I’m talking about the Chinese theaters. This past January, many theaters shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, and in the months since then, we’ve seen the country become a ghost town. 

However, sources are telling Deadline that China Film Group and China’s Film Bureau have reopened for business. As you can imagine, they are looking into the best route of un-shuttering those theaters that shut down in the midst of the scare.

“They’re starting to lay out a plan for the re-opening of cinema in China,” Imax CEO Richard Gelfond told Deadline. “They’re starting to assess what movies are available, in what time periods and how they want to manage the re-opening.”

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While China has been hit incredibly hard in recent months, they seem to be getting everything under control. The number of new cases in the country seem to be dwindling, and with it, it seems as thous businesses are anxious to get the economy rolling once again. But they wouldn’t be the first businesses to reopen. Shanghai Ocean Aquarium is apparently completely open, with its capacity hitting around 50% — so business isn’t exactly booming for them, but it’s better than nothing.

But don’t expect theaters to fully open on day one. The plan is to open possibly by the end of the month with older titles first. If all goes well, they’ll be back and in full swing by May 1. 

Sadly, here in the U.S. and in a lot of the Western countries, we’re behind the curve, so we will likely have a couple of more months to wait before things start to resemble anything close to normal. And, of course, that’s barring any potential relapses. Given that we’re in unfamiliar territory, there’s no telling how things will go.

What do you think of all this? Do you think May 1 is a realistic timetable?

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SOURCE: Deadline