Some of Baton Rouge’s movie theaters have reopened, while others remain closed one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the beginning of the gradual road to recovery for the U.S. entertainment industry.
AMC Theatres, which has said it would have 98% of its U.S. movie theaters opened by today, has already reopened its two Baton Rouge theaters at the Mall of Louisiana and on Hatteras Avenue, albeit with fewer showtimes, enhanced cleaning practices and shorter operating hours, with theaters open only Fridays through Sundays.
Meanwhile, the Cinemark Perkins Rowe has reopened seven days a week, with customers required to purchase reserved seating in advance of their movie showing.
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All three facilities are managed by larger, national chains that have indicated they’ve put the worst of the pandemic behind them. Across the country, these movie theater reopenings mean more jobs for people to go to, the AP reports, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest report showing that in February, most of the job gains that occurred were in the leisure and hospitality industries.
To accommodate guests looking for more intimate experiences, Cinemark and AMC have offered “private watch parties,” allowing a customer to rent out their own private viewing “for a limited time.”
Locally, the Manship Theatre is also available to rent out for private movie viewings. While the downtown theater has not yet returned to a regular schedule of public movie screenings, it occasionally hosts small events such as next month’s Spoof Night: Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn Interactive Movie Experience by the The Family Dinner Comedy Troupe.
Cinemas still face a number of challenges, from limited seating capacity to the prospect of changing consumer habits as film fans enjoy first-run movies from the comfort of their own homes, the Wall Street Journal reports. Consequently, not every theater owner is ready to reopen, largely because reopening to limited capacity would ultimately be too expensive for them.
Here in Baton Rouge, the Movie Tavern at Citiplace Court is temporarily closed, with no reopening date set as of this story’s deadline.
“We look forward to reopening fully and reconnecting with all the communities we serve when there is a consistent schedule of new movie releases,” Marcus Theatres, which operates the Movie Tavern chain, says on the website for its Citiplace location.
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Guests who visit the website are directed to patronize the nearby Movie Tavern Juban Crossing in Denham Springs, which has reopened.
Another theater that has yet to reopen is Celebrity Theatres in Shenandoah, which hasn’t indicated when it will open its doors again, either.
This story originally appeared in a March 18 edition of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.