IndieWire: Theaters Prepare to Reopen with TSA-Style Check-in, Temperature Screenings, and Plexiglass

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May 3, 2020

With Texas allowed to reopen some nonessential businesses as of May 1, some exhibitors are battening the hatches to prepare for moviegoers, while others continue to wait out the storm. According to Variety, EVO Entertainment in Texas plans to open two locations on Monday, employing “airport security-style check-in,” CEO Mitchell Roberts said. Guests will be ferried through a cordoned area in the front door, asked whether anyone in their household had flu symptoms in the last 14 days, and finally be subjected to an infrared temperature screening. The theater will turn away anyone with a temperature of more than 100.4 degrees.

“I feel like it’s really important for our guests to come in and see what we’re doing to protect them,” Roberts told Variety. “The focus is on earning that customer confidence back.”

Like EVO, Santikos Entertainment in San Antonio will also reopen theaters, and charge guests $5 a ticket at a discounted price (kids are $3). Concessions will also be $5 for large drinks and large popcorns, with no refills on either. Santikos, however, reportedly reopened three locations as of Saturday, with the chain screening Universal’s “Trolls World Tour and “The Hunt,” both of which are available on VOD for the cool price of $19.99. Also on the docket are “I Still Believe,” “The Invisible Man,” and “Bloodshot.”

“We’re operating more for psychological value than net income,” CEO Tim Handren told Variety. “That’s what theaters are for — an escape. We’re going to provide that escape.” One of the films screenings at Santikos locations is the 1997 Jennifer Lopez biopic “Selena,” and as of Friday, 20% of seats had already been sold.

Theaters Prepare to Reopen with TSA-Style Check-in, Temperature Screenings, and Plexiglass

Guests will be carefully screened for entry at select movie theaters reopening in Texas, and eventually Oklahoma and elsewhere.