Unpacking The L.A Cinemas Choosing To Remain Closed (For Now)

BLAKE & WANG P.A Entertainment Attorney Los Angeles were thrilled to announce earlier this week that L.A cinemas have been given the green light to reopen. Today, we look a little deeper at who won’t be turning on the lights any time soon.

With L.A moving to the ‘red tier’, indicating 2 million citizens vaccinated and an overall reduction in COVID-19 cases and transmissions, cinemas are finally free to reopen at a measly 25% capacity. All the same, this represents a giant leap forward for the U.S’s largest movie market. Coming so soon on the heels of New York City reopening, this restores a huge chunk of the nation’s movie-going market, and should provide some much-needed impetus to the exhibition industry as a whole. While it’s not exactly a return to normal, at least hope for a recovery is on the way.

We’ve seen- and reported on- many key L.A venues that have pushed to turn the lights on as soon as possible. By 26h March (or very shortly after), we will likely see a huge swathe of L.A’s theaters glowing with life once again. Yet some conspicuous ones will remain closed. 

It’s probably no secret that Regal’s locations will be among them. At the earliest, we may see a May reopening for them, including their 2 Santa Clarita multiplexes. Laemmle, the art-house chain, will only be breathing new life into its brand new 6-plex in Newhall within a month or so. It’s fairly understandable, however, as this new location requires some rehiring, and no doubt, retraining, of staff for the facility. The chain has announced that it would rather reopen the chain as a whole rather than undertake a sporadic opening, so other locations will await the new venue. Arclight Cinemas will only get rolling when they feel there’s more tent pole content being produced. Even Disney’s Black Widow, set for May 7h release, may not be enough for them to open the doors- they’re waiting for capacity restrictions to drop to something a little more conducive to profit. 

Despite these notable fixtures in the L.A landscape remaining quiet, it’s back to business as usual for the bulk of the theatrical exhibition industry in L. A BLAKE & WANG P.A entertainment Lawyer Los Angeles wishes them a speedy recovery!