With everything closing back in March, students were stuck at home with nothing to do. Now, with more safety precautions, students are able to come back to the movie theater.
Cinemark has added in many changes for safety reasons. While it may be annoying to some, it’s the best way to keep everyone safe.
“When you buy popcorn and drinks you have to pay with a card or gift cards which I think is dumb because I only have cash on me,” sophomore Gavyn Leach said.
Along with adding in contactless ways to pay, they also have added in sanitizing high traffic areas every 30 minutes CEO of Cinemark Mark Zoradi talked about in a press release.
“We are reducing the capacity in our auditorium and we’ll block seats adjacent to your party when you purchase tickets,” Zoradi said.
Cinemark is making sure everyone can properly social distance. They are hoping that these safety precautions will make people feel safe enough to come back to the theatres.
“We invite you to join us as we offer special welcome back prices,” Zoradi said.
Cinemark is trying to lure people back by lowering their prices. Not just with tickets, but at the concession stand too. Ticket prices have come down to $5 for adults and $3 for children.
The concessions also have dropped down to just $5 for a large popcorn and $3.50 for a large drink. Cinemark are also giving extra stuff to their movie club members.
Another thing they are trying to do to get business back is adding an opportunity to rent out one of the auditoriums for a private watch party.
“We invited 20 guests. You could choose between an older film or a new release,” Theater arts program director Amy Sima-Dirham said. “That is what determined the price. If you divide that number by the cost of the movie theater it comes out to $4.95 a person. That is much less than the cost of a regular movie ticket.”
This is a great option to hang out with family and friends that is COVID-19 safe.
“We invited family and friends. Everyone spread out to social distance, but since we had the whole theater to ourselves, we were able to talk and socialize before and after with one another,” Dirham said. “The concessions were open and we filled up on all kinds of theater snacks and goodies.”
The movie theaters have also started to play classic movies that haven’t been in the theater for a while and it’s getting positive reviews.
“We chose a classic: Raiders of the Lost Ark. This was a movie that we hadn’t seen in the theaters since it premiered in 1981,” Dirham said. “It brought back so many great memories for us “middle-aged folks.” I had forgotten how exciting it was to watch this movie on a big screen.”
