In today’s Movie News Roundup: Georgia tests a comeback for movie theaters; The Batman is among many big movies that just moved their release dates; a pleasant debate ensues about perfect movies; and Stanley Tucci gives a lesson in drink-making.
Canaries in a Movie Theater: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says movie theaters can open in his state on April 27. Variety reports that “exhibition insiders stress that it would be nearly impossible for most major chains to start business back up by next week.” Part of the problem is that major chains like AMC Theaters, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark have laid off or furloughed so many employees and would need time for hiring and training. Other open questions: Would audiences come back now? Will anyone release a movie that can’t be shown nationwide? And in what pattern will patrons sit?
A Checkerboard Pattern, Of Course: Deadline did a great job on this story about how movie theaters will try to restore moviegoers’ confidence — with lots of cleaning and lots of space. “The configuration being contemplated by AMC and other chains, sources said, begins with the chessboard seating chart, with customers only sitting in the black squares. So there’s nobody next to you, nobody in front of you, and the nearest person is off to an angle behind you and in front of you,” Deadline writes.
The story uses “checkerboard” an “chessboard” interchangeably, but we assume multiplexes will call it a “checkerboard” pattern and artsy, high-end theaters will call it a “chessboard” pattern.
The Batman Moved: Matt Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, will now open not on June 25, 2021, but on Oct. 1, 2021. Is it because of all the bad press that bats have been getting lately?
Also Moving: Forbes has a good rundown of all the other dates Warner Bros. changed Monday: The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark moved to March 12, 2021, from September 25, 2020, which will give us all more time to re-watch The Sopranos. Will Smith’s King Richard, in which he plays the father of Serena and Venus Williams, is moving from Thanksgiving 2020 to November 19, 2021. And Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis film, the one Tom Hanks was working on when he tested positive for COVID-19, will barely move from Oct. 1, 2021 to Nov. 5, 2021.
5 Perfect Movies: Is trending on Twitter, and the correct answer is “movies aren’t supposed to be perfect, silly.” But anyway, CNN’s Jake Tapper, one of the prominent Twitter people taking part in this, went with Chinatown, Little Women, Moonlight, Rear Window and Groundhog Day, which is a nice starting point for discussion.
Stanley Tucci, Mixologist: The beloved actor made a nice video showing you how to make a Negroni, a word that we have always found uncomfortable to say. People online embraced it as a “masterclass” because that word has been redefined to mean “a celebrity spoke into a camera.” Note the type of pattern behind him.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_NkcbTgVfy/?utm_source=ig_embed
And now, a cool cocktail we’re quite comfortable calling “yesterday’s movie news.”
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