AMC Theatres, the largest theater chain in the U.S., has announced that they're reducing capacity in each of their auditoriums by at least 50% starting Saturday, March 14 and continuing until April 30, 2020 due to COVID-19/Coronavirus concerns.
According to AMC, ticket sales for each showtime in each of its auditoriums will be capped to an amount equal to 50% of the normal seating capacity. In auditoriums with more than 500 seats, the theater chain will further cap ticket sales to a maximum of 250 in any case.
Adam Aron, CEO and President, AMC Theatres released this in a statement: "The health and safety of our guests and theatre teams are of the utmost importance to AMC.," Aron said. "Therefore, AMC is proactively taking action to cut in half the number of tickets that we will make available at all our U.S. theatres. With this action, we are facilitating the ‘social distance' between guests who still want to see movies on a big screen."
"These are uncharted times in the United States," Aron added. "We are very closely monitoring the guidance of the CDC. We are complying with all directives from federal, state and local health and government authorities, and with our unilateral move to reduce capacity and increase social distancing we are going beyond what governments are requiring of us. Founded in 1920, AMC Theatres has a proud history that spans 100 years. As we enter our second century, AMC remains firmly committed to offering a clean, healthy, entertaining environment every time our guests come to movies at our theatres."
As the Coronavirus continues to spread in the U.S., more people will be staying at home anyways, so reducing theater capacity in half probably won't make a huge difference
Shortly after AMC's announcement, Regal Cinema announced that they're also reducing theater capacity.
"The health and safety of our customers and staff is very important to us," Regal Cinemas said in a statement. "We are continuing to follow and monitor official guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health organizations."
In the upcoming weeks, I'll probably be just streaming Elite Season 3 on Netflix instead of going to the theaters.
Related: The Batman Will Continue Filming Despite Coronavirus Concerns