Cinema operator Peter Howard said while unfortunate, there were two reasons Fay's Twin Cinema in Taree and Great Lakes Cinema 3 in Tuncurry wouldn't be reopening their doors on Wednesday, July 1.
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The news comes after the NSW Government announced cinemas in the State could reopen from that date, provided the 'four square metre' rule for social distancing was in place.
"Unfortunately, we will NOT be reopening from this date," Peter said in a Facebook post to audience members.
"This is due to two factors: firstly, our capacities would be limited to between 18 and 23 per cent of our normal capacity, which would make things very marginal for us.
"When restrictions drop down to the 'two square metre' rule, hopefully fairly quickly, we think we will be able to trade properly.
"The second, and more pressing, reason we wont be able to resume on July 1 is that quite simply there is no major new films scheduled to be released until at least July 23 (Mulan)."
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Peter said cinemas that did reopen from July 1 would do so with what were "euphemistically called 'catalogue' titles".
"They refer to titles already available on a streaming service, or on DVD."
Peter feels these are not the movies the industry should be reopening with.
"We are very much of the opinion that audiences deserve - and expect - new movies when they can come back to the cinema."
Pete said some people might ask why movie companies didn't put on new films on July 1.
"The answer is that unlike your local restaurant pub or club, cinemas are beholden to what is a worldwide supply chain.
"If cinemas in the US, China, and Europe are still largely closed (and they are), those cinemas in Australia and New Zealand just have to sit tight and wait, regardless of how well our local COVID-19 response has been."
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While closed, Peter said there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes to prepare for the reopening of the cinemas in a COVID-safe environment.
"This will include allocated bubble seating, contact tracing, largely contactless payments, and additional cleaning regimes.
"We have also got quite a bit of renovation work happening at the moment, that we wouldn't have been able to properly undertake if we were trading."
Peter expressed thanks to the Manning and Great Lakes communities for their continued support.
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