Gannett sells ads on Snapchat: <\/strong>Gannett to sell ads on Snapchat to local businesses in digital marketing collaboration<\/span><\/p>\n Cinemas in the city are currently operating at only 25% capacity, with a maximum of 50 per each auditorium. As in other places, mask wearing is mandatory, seats are blocked out and air filters have been upgraded.<\/p>\n Many theaters were caught off guard when Gov. Andrew Cuomo said cinemas could, under those conditions, reopen. Some of the city\u2019s prominent theaters, including the Film Forum, the Alamo Drafthouse, the Metrograph and Regal Cinemas were targeting openings in the coming weeks. Some needed more time to prepare. After sitting dormant all winter, the Cinema Village in Manhattan two weeks earlier burst a pipe, flooding the lobby \u2014 one last bit of bad luck in a grueling year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was the worst horror movie. I don\u2019t think any Hollywood director could have dreamed it up,\u201d said Nicolas Nicolaou, owner of the Cinema Village and theaters in Queens and New York. \u201cWe didn\u2019t realize we\u2019d be 100% shutdown for this long.\u201d<\/p>\n New York, along with Los Angeles (where theaters are still closed), is one of the top movie markets. For smaller films, it\u2019s a vital epicenter of word-of-mouth. For blockbusters, it\u2019s a lucrative necessity. Without New York or Los Angeles open, Hollywood studios have pushed most of their larger productions until more theaters are open, or they\u2019ve steered films to streaming services.<\/p>\n \u201cThe New York opening is very significant to the theater business in New York, in the nation and in the globe,\u201d says John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners. \u201cWe in the movie theater business live off of movies that play all around the country and all around the world. We keep seeing those movies leave the theatrical release schedule to move to later dates because there just haven\u2019t been enough markets. New York is the most important of those markets.\u201d<\/p>\n Lately, with President Biden\u2019s prediction that every adult can be vaccinated by the end of May, the outlook for theaters has been brightening for the first time in a long time. Last weekend, \u201cTom & Jerry\u201d overperformed at the box office with $14.1 million in ticket sales, even while it streamed on HBO Max. Though Universal Pictures pushed the \u201cFast & Furious\u201d sequel \u201cF9\u201d from late May to late June, other movies have moved up on the calendar, reversing the postponement tide.<\/p>\n New York City streets are mostly empty as a pedestrian wearing a protective face mask due to COVID-19 concerns walks by a shuttered movie theater. (Photo: John Minchillo, AP)<\/span><\/p>\n Sony Pictures said it will release \u201cPeter Rabbit 2: The Runaway\u201d in May. Paramount Pictures\u2019 \u201cA Quiet Place II\u201d moved into the May 28 date vacated by \u201cF9.\u201d The Walt Disney Co.\u2019s \u201cBlack Widow\u201d currently remains slated for May 7. Adding to the optimism: Southern California theaters are expected to reopen over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that we\u2019re going back to record-breaking business this summer,\u201d said Fithian. \u201cWe\u2019re going to crawl, then we\u2019re going to walk and then we\u2019re going to run. It\u2019s going to take into 2022 before sustained profitability comes back into the business.\u201d<\/p>\n But at least on Friday, New York\u2019s cinema lobbies were, if not crowded, again bustling. Sold-out signs for the evening adorned box-office windows. Even a little star power returned. Liam Neeson was to stop by the AMC at Lincoln Square to introduce \u201cThe Marksman.\u201d<\/p>\n At the IFC Center in Greenwich Village, masked moviegoers flocked to films to play catch up \u2014 even if the movies were streaming. IFC is hosting a four-week \u201cWhat\u2019d We Miss?\u201d series of movies the theater couldn\u2019t play over the last 12 months, including \u201cFirst Cow\u201d and \u201cMLK\/FBI.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re used to being present for the birth of these movies for New York audiences when they move into the public realm,\u201d said John Vanco, senior vice president of the IFC Center. The circumstances, he granted, weren\u2019t ideal. But they were better than nothing. \u201cI don\u2019t look at 25% as being not good enough,\u201d said Vanco. \u201cI look at it as better than 0%.\u201d<\/p>\n At the IFC, Tykon Herman settled in for \u201cMa Rainey\u2019s Black Bottom,\u201d and had tickets for a 5 p.m. of \u201cThe Trial of the Chicago 7.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m one of the very few that don\u2019t have Netflix,\u201d said Herman, laughing. \u201cI\u2019m just old-fashioned. I\u2019ve loved the theater experience from the time I saw \u2018E.T.\u2019 It\u2019s not going to be the same but sitting down in front of this screen makes me feel like things may be getting back to normal soon.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/04\/17\/USAT\/c83def00-d012-4a07-a7e4-2ba53d483aea-AP_Virus_Outbreak-Film-Virtual_Viewing_Parties.JPG\")
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