UK Cinemas Reopening

[ukaskew]

Interested in people's thoughts on this as in theory we are only a couple of weeks away from this happening.

Most chains have announced their restrictions already, such as very limited capacity, online tickets only, staggered film times, pre-packaged food only etc.

One thing overlooked by many is that there aren't actually many movies scheduled for release, so there will be some significant gaps until at least September, major releases in the meantime include:

July 24th: Mulan
July 31st: TENET
Aug 21st: Bill and Ted
Aug 28th: New Mutants
Sept 4th: A Quiet Place Part II

To combat that issue, 450 films have been released to cinemas. Group 1 is films that had their runs cut short in March (such as Sonic), group 2 is films released to streaming platforms (such as Trolls) and group 3 is a huge list of classic/archive films.

Group 3 includes everything from the Back to the Future trilogy, Harry Potter, 2001, Blair Witch, Hot Fuzz, The Goonies, The Empire Strikes Back and many more.

I have an Odeon Limitless pass so I'm willing to give it a go, particularly so if there are classics I want to see. As per most other Odeons my local has online booking where you can pick a seat, so they can easily block seats out to keep people well apart.

[valiant]

Can’t wait! Love the cinema.

Seeing some classics on the big screen sounds good. Missed a lot of them first time around.

[realjv]

Limited capacity might help cinemas with the relative lack of new releases. Films might stick around longer to both fill the gaps and also meet audience demand, it's just depends on how much demand there is.

During lockdown studios have had some success with home/streaming premiers which will worry cinemas although not sure it's proven to work yet across all genres/types of film. Kids films doing well isn't a surprise when kids are all stuck at home.

[MXRod]

Up until I retired 18 months ago , I worked for a contractor doing cinema maintenance.
Having seen the meticulous care !!! taken over cleaning and disinfecting ,would I visit a cinema in the near future ?
Not a chance ,
How many times have you walked across a foyer or into a screen and felt your shoes sticking to floors / carpets soaked with spilled drinks , or put your hand on an arm rest and picked up a sticky residue.
This is one of the biggest cinema chains in the UK
I will wait for films to come up on PPV TV or on Netflix/Now/Amazon

[PositronicRay]

MXRod said:

Up until I retired 18 months ago , I worked for a contractor doing cinema maintenance.
Having seen the meticulous care !!! taken over cleaning and disinfecting ,would I visit a cinema in the near future ?
Not a chance ,
How many times have you walked across a foyer or into a screen and felt your shoes sticking to floors / carpets soaked with spilled drinks , or put your hand on an arm rest and picked up a sticky residue.
This is one of the biggest cinema chains in the UK
I will wait for films to come up on PPV TV or on Netflix/Now/Amazon

I must admit I hadn't noticed that, looking forward to the Everyman opening.

[cossy400]

Me and MRS400 have been together 13 years, been to the cinema twice in that time.

Ridiculous money for what you get IMO.

Rather wait until its released and buy it and watch it, or theirs now a lot of platforms to watch it on in time.

[rex]

Mrs Rex and I have an unlimited pass and enjoy our cinema trips. Will be nice to see some old films on the big screen again.
Might have to start wearing PPE for the trips.

[Riley Blue]

cossy400 said:

Me and MRS400 have been together 13 years, been to the cinema twice in that time.

Ridiculous money for what you get IMO.

Rather wait until its released and buy it and watch it, or theirs now a lot of platforms to watch it on in time.

We're the same, we've been twice in 13 years, once to 'Dunkirk' and once to 'The Green Hell'. Both were memorable but not for good reasons.

The first time, to 'Dunkirk' was a huge disappointment both as a film and as an entertainment experience. Thankfully it was a local Cineworld and we hadn't made a big night out of it.

The second time, to 'The Green Hell', we came home by train, it was drizzling for the mile and a half walk home and as we walked towards a bridge over a dual carriageway we could see someone was on the outside of the railings being talked to by a police negotiator. The alternative route was along a muddy, unlit canal towpath.

I think my cinema going days are over. The 'experience' isn't worth it when I can watch my Amazon selection in comfort at home, with a drink and nibbles, sound through my hi-fi, make loo breaks without missing any action and without the hassle of social distancing.

[ukaskew]

cossy400 said:

Me and MRS400 have been together 13 years, been to the cinema twice in that time.

Ridiculous money for what you get IMO.

Rather wait until its released and buy it and watch it, or theirs now a lot of platforms to watch it on in time.

If you can go a lot it can be very affordable. My Limitless pass costs me less than £150 per year and I've been averaging 70-80 films per year on that (loads of great movies beyond the big stuff). I take my own cup of tea and parking is free at my local (which is only 2 miles away), so on average a trip probably costs me in the region of £2.50.

Loads of chains have been pretty aggressive with pricing in the past year or so as well, many Odeons have reduced all tickets to £5 for example.

[LeadFarmer]

ukaskew said:

I take my own cup of tea

For long films like the Hobbit trilogy I take a packed lunch, sandwiches and a flask

The wife renewed my Cineworld pass in March, just before lockdown started. Thanks fully I didn't activate it so I will still have 12 months membership when I do. Not sure if current pass holders are getting their memberships extended?

Edited by LeadFarmer on Tuesday 23 June 14:26

[Big Nanas]

LeadFarmer said:

ukaskew said:

I take my own cup of tea

For long films like the Hobbit trilogy I take a packed lunch, sandwiches and a flask

The wife renewed my Cineworld pass in March, just before lockdown started. Thanks fully I didn't activate it so I will still have 12 months membership when I do. Not sure if current pass holders are getting their memberships extended?

Edited by LeadFarmer on Tuesday 23 June 14:26

Odeon suspended all payments for it’s Limitless, so I’d expect them to restart soon.

Any updates from Odeon about when/how they’ll reopen?

[ukaskew]

Big Nanas said:

Odeon suspended all payments for it’s Limitless, so I’d expect them to restart soon.

Any updates from Odeon about when/how they’ll reopen?

No info yet apart from the measures they are putting in place on their website.

Odeon initially confirmed that their booking system (which is terrible for Limitless members) wouldn't be able to handle giving everyone an extension equivalent to the time lost (which is more of an issue for us annual pass members), instead they were going to issue vouchers equivalent to the average number of films you've watched per month, for each month they are shut.

They seem to have backtracked on that and are planning to introduce a new booking system where they can just extend your existing card. Some people have already pointed out that it's currently impossible to book Limitless tickets together (i.e. husband and wife), so how will that work with a booking system that will presumably not allow separate bookings to book next to each other.

[MYOB]

Have you ever been in a well lit cinema? Have you actually seen the state of the seats and armrest? Absolutely filthy. They are never cleaned and I suspect this is why they never have the lights on full before or after the films.

[ukaskew]

Cineworld are opening on Friday July 10th and will be screening the following until new releases arrive...

Stuff cut short etc: Sonic, Bad Boys for Life, Queen & Slim, Onward

Classics from the 450 list: Empire Strikes Back, Goodfellas, Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future trilogy,

Edited by ukaskew on Wednesday 24th June 11:53

[mfmman]

Not sure when or how it will re-open but I'm keen to try the Tivoli Cinema-Cafe in Bath. Had planned to go earlier in the year but C19 put paid to that

[lyceum]

mfmman said:

Not sure when or how it will re-open but I'm keen to try the Tivoli Cinema-Cafe in Bath. Had planned to go earlier in the year but C19 put paid to that

It really is excellent and worth the extra outlay IMO.

[PF62]

ukaskew said:

Cineworld are opening on Friday July 10th and will be screening the following until new releases arrive...

Stuff cut short etc: Sonic, Bad Boys for Life, Queen & Slim, Onward

Classics from the 450 list: Empire Strikes Back, Goodfellas, Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future trilogy,

Edited by ukaskew on Wednesday 24th June 11:53

So they are screening a pile of crap. Great. And they will be reactivating our Unlimited passes immediately, so even though they suspended them whilst they were closed we still lose out.

Time to complain.

[mfmman]

lyceum said:

mfmman said:

Not sure when or how it will re-open but I'm keen to try the Tivoli Cinema-Cafe in Bath. Had planned to go earlier in the year but C19 put paid to that

It really is excellent and worth the extra outlay IMO.

Thanks,

[Big Nanas]

PF62 said:

So they are screening a pile of crap. Great. And they will be reactivating our Unlimited passes immediately, so even though they suspended them whilst they were closed we still lose out.

Time to complain.

Just cancel your pass and reactivate when the Cinema schedule is back to normal, its not Odeon's fault so many of this years films were pushed back.
Personally I'm keen to see some of the older films I may have missed at the cinema.

[Big Nanas]

Odeon are now allowing bookings from July 4th.
A decent set of films, including, Batman Trilogy (Nolan), Empire Strikes Back, 1917 and lots of others.