COCHRANE— Lighting up the theatre screen for the first time in three months Cochrane Movie House will be opening its doors to the public on Friday.
Cochrane Movie House has been planning for reopening since the three-stage Alberta Economic Relaunch was announced in early May. At the time a tentative schedule of opening on June 19 was put in place, pending on the success of Stage One and the number of COVID-19 cases in Alberta, said Hal Wolf owner of the Cochrane Movie House.
Cochrane Movie House found out last week they would be able to open earlier with Stage Two beginning on Friday (June 12).
They made the decision to open on Friday (June 19) to ensure they had time to get everything in order, recall staff, disinfect the building and ensure they could adhere to public health measures.
“The overall feeling is general excitement and eagerness to get back,” Wolf said. He added that he is grateful that the movie house, all levels of government and consumers have found a way to go to the movies and feel safe.
“It’s all about safety,” he said. “This is us getting used to the new normal we need to be trained and help our guests feel comfortable and safe when they are here.”
Each theatre will be able to host 30 guests in a 100 seat auditorium to maintain social distancing and shows have been spaced apart so there is no overlap with exit and entrance times. Mask will not be required to attend a movie.
Ushers will be in place to help guests find seats in the auditorium to ensure social distancing is practiced and auditoriums in the theatre will be disinfected between shows.
COVID-19 was perfectly designed to take out businesses especially movie theatres, Wolf said, because the virus has forced people to stay at home and avoid other people.
“The whole process is for the community and the movie-going public to gain confidence and show that it's OK to come to the movie theatre,” Wolf said.
The Movie House like many facilities and businesses in town will be working to build up the public trust in health measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“That is the jumping-off point for us— To be able to open the doors and start learning and start going from there," Wolf said.
Wolf said he does not expect the theatre to be “overly busy” when it first reopens but hopes people will see it as an opportunity to get out of the house and see what watching a movie is like in a post-COVID world.
“I have a feeling there’s going to be a to of curious people but I don’t believe there will be a lot of people,” Wolf said.
The number one priority is ensuring everyone is safe, he said, adding that he is cautiously optimistic the reopening is a step towards a return to normal.
“We’re just really excited, and really anxious and a little nervous all at once about opening,” Wolf said. “We’re eager to get back.”
Being allowed to reopen is the first of many hurdles they face, Wolf said, explaining that it will be an uphill battle because there are no first-run movies that can be showcased.
The ramifications of COVID-19 on the theatre industry are worldwide and at least 80 per cent of global movie theatres need to open for new movies to be released.
“Until theatres come back online distributors will not release their product,” Wolf said.
He said he is hopeful the Christopher Nolan directed movie Tenent and the live-action remake of Mulan will be released at the end of July, and Wonder Woman: 1984 will be released in August.
“One studio has to test the waters,” he said.
For now, Cochrane Movie House is featuring all-time family favourite movies. All seats and all shows will be $5.
The opening day will feature Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Trolls: World Tour and My Spy.
Trolls and My Spy are exciting to bring to the big screen he said because both movies were released right as COVID-19 public health measures forced Cochrane Movie House to close its doors.
He added that it is exciting playing classic movies because it may be the first opportunity some have had to see titans of film history on the big screen.
“You need to watch some of this stuff on the big screen, and it transcends from the screen into the audience,” he said, adding that the emotion audiences share while watching a film is contagious. “If it’s funny everybody laughs and you feel better. If it’s sad then everybody is sad.”
Wolf said he thinks it will probably close to mid-August and even into September before the theatre is able to feature all new movies in its five auditoriums.
The theatre will be reopening to the public on Friday (June 19) with their new regular opening hours from noon to 8 p.m. daily.
“For now its baby steps— Getting your doors open, getting used to the new normal, getting used to operations and how we’re going to make people and make things better,” Wolf said. “The industry as a whole is definitely crippled and will be crippled for a very long time.”
