CINEMAS are finally re-emerging from the pandemic-induced lockdown – and, in common with shops and stores, priority has been placed on new safety measures.
They are reflected in a brief film viewable on social media and posted by the Odeon chain.
They include: booking your tickets online for a contactless experience; the staggering of film times in order to reduce queuing; and a limit on the number of seats sold per screening so that customers can have more space.
Couples, friends from the same household, and families can still sit together, says Odeon, urging that they "follow social distancing and safety measures when they arrive at the cinema".
A range of pre-packaged food and drinks, with contactless till payments, will be available, and many cinema staff will wear PPE "for your peace of mind".
The chain also urges customers to wash their hands when appropriate and use the sanitising stations.
It adds: "We have strict guidelines for any of our colleagues who may begin to show early symptoms to stay away from the cinema. We would welcome all of our guests to do the same and stay home if they feel unwell.
"Please follow government guidelines with regards to wearing face coverings".
The Glasgow Quay - Odeon Luxe and Dunfermline Odeon will be open from Wednesday, July 15, with others in the Odeon Scottish chain to follow.
Cineworld venues, meanwhile, will not be open for business until the last day of the month.
A statement reads: "In line with recent changes to upcoming film release dates, we have made the decision to move our re-opening date to 31st July. We hope that we will be able to re-open the doors of all Cineworld cinemas across the UK and Ireland at that time, subject to UK government restrictions. With the on-going pandemic, this new date remains subject to final confirmation".
Safety measures will include social distancing, hand-washing with anti-bacterial hand soap, hand sanitiser stations, e-ticketing and a cleaning programme "designed to clean and sanitise the high touch points within the cinema".
The Glasgow Film Theatre will not reopen until August 31. Its loyal customer base is delighted. “I think I will take the day off and spend it in the GFT”, wrote one fan on Twitter. “I’ve missed you so much”, wrote another.
In the meantime, GFT is launching a new live video series online, and will bring Glasgow Film Festival back for a series of drive-in screenings over the summer, in partnership with the Glasgow-based company, Electric Frog.
For many film fans, the big re-opening cannot come quickly enough. They have missed the big-screen experience, and the chance to watch the latest films.
The slate of forthcoming attractions ranges from Mulan, Disney's live-action adaptation of its animated film hit of 1998, to Tenet, the eagerly-awaited spy thriller from Christopher Nolan, director of Dunkirk, Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises and Inception.
Other movies on the way include the latest Bond film, No Time to Die; Proxima, starring Eva Green, and A Quiet Place Part II.
The global pandemic has had a profound impact on the industry, with production work being halted on such prestige projects as James Cameron's Avatar sequels and on Baz Luhrmann's Elvis biopic, with Tom Hanks as Col Tom Parker and Austin Butler, whose CV includes Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here