Global chain Cineworld announces plans to reopen theaters in the U.S., U.K., and Europe within weeks

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“Mulan” — © 2019 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.(LOS ANGELES) — The theater chain Cineworld, which operates 787 movie theaters and some 9,500 screens across 10 countries, has announced that the summer movie season is back on. 

Following global shut-downs of movie venues the world over, the chain’s CEO says they will be opening all of its theaters across the U.S., U.K. and Europe starting June 26 and through July, Variety reports. 

The trade notes that depending on government regulations, Cineworld plans to start opening theaters in the Czech Republic and Slovakia on June 26. Venues in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary will open for business on July 3, followed Israel on July 9.

Cineworld theaters in the U.S. — which include 564 in the Regal chain — will open on July 10, the same day venues in the U.K. 

CEO Mooky Greidinger said in a statement, “We are thrilled to be back and encouraged by recent surveys that show that many people have missed going to the movie theatre. With a strong slate confirmed for the coming weeks, including…Tenet, Mulan, A Quiet Place Part II, Wonder Woman 1984, Black Widow, Bond [No Time To Die], Soul, [and] Top Gun: Maverick…the entire Cineworld team remains committed to being ‘the best place to watch a movie."”

To clarify, the exec listed films that not only have release dates close to the summer, like Disney’s Mulan on July 24, and the just-bumped release of Tenet on July 31, but also films whose debut dates were pushed further down the calendar: A Quiet Place 2 isn’t set for release until September 4; WW 1984 on October 2; Marvel Studio’s Black Widow on November 6; Soul and No Time To Die on November 20; and Top Gun: Maverick on December 23.

Studios could further delay these releases if COVID-19 conditions warrant it.

Bt Stephen IervolinoCopyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.