COVID-19 has affected many industries including the film industry, meaning many theaters have had to close down. According to statista.com, it’s estimated that over $10 billion dollars were lost due to the pandemic.

Theaters like AMC are known to usually fit sometimes more than a hundred people, but due to Covid would be high risk. In addition to fitting that many people, cleaning would be an issue because of how time-consuming it would be. 

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced movie theaters in New York City will be allowed to reopen on March 5th with no more than 50 people per screen at a time.

Many theater owners are finding new ways of dealing with the pandemic. They are also allowing customers to rent out a whole theater starting at $99 with a limit of 20 people. 

“I think it’s nice for people to have a theater all to themselves. People might be nervous with COVID and since they’re by themselves it takes that tension away,” said WJPS junior Russell Guerra. 

Producers have resorted to having the movie released on platforms like HBO Max or Disney + instead of in the theater. 

“I think it’s great. Especially now during the pandemic, it’s a better alternative than having to put yourself and others at risk by going to the actual movie theater,” said WJPS junior Yarelly Ramirez.

“Movie theatre interior #1” by agnellina is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0