by Thinus Ferreira
Like Nu Metro, Ster-Kinekor is also reopening its cinemas in South Africa following Monday's move from Level 4 to an adjusted Level 3 of lockdown in the country, with in-person press screenings for media that will resume from August although film critics will have less than 16 hours in some cases to craft reviews.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday night that South Africa is moving back to an adjusted level 3 lockdown with cinemas, casinos, gyms, theatres, museums and libraries that are allowed to open and with restaurants that can once again cater to sit-down patrons.
Nu Metro told TVwithThinus on Monday that the cinema chain will reopen its movie theatres on Friday 30 July, including its specialised cinema formats like 4DX, VIP and Xtreme.
Nu Metro will initially only have its cinemas open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Ster-Kinekor told TVwithThinus on Wednesday in response to a media enquiry that it has now opened 19 of its cinemas since Tuesday and will reopen its remaining 33 venues on Friday 30 July.
Sterk-Kinekor is currently in business rescue and in June implored the government to allow cinemas to reopen since the mandated closure of cinemas meant a "devastating blow" to South Africa's movie theatre industry.
Ster-Kinekor says all its cinemas countrywide will continue to operate with "all Covid-19 safety procedures" and that "each theatre will be permitted a maximum of 50 guests per auditorium".
"Ster-Kinekor
will continue to screen all our staff before we open the cinemas each
day, as well as at each shift with regular sanitising breaks during their shift."
"We will wear face masks and gloves where required and our staff have been
trained on safe work practices to ensure safety for themselves and for our
guests. We will continue to sanitise the cinemas before and after each show and
have increased our cleaning times between every show to make sure all our seats
and surfaces are clean and safe."
Ster-Kinekor will return Fast &
Furious 9 for only its second week on circuit after the film had a successful opening weekend prior to the adjusted level 4 lockdown
restrictions which were implemented on 27 June.
The Looney Tunes gang in Space Jam: A New Legacy will be releasing 30 July, while Ster-Kinekor will be pre-release screening Disney’s Jungle Cruise on Saturday 31 July ahead of the national release on 6 August.
James Gunn’s DC movie The Suicide Squad will flicker onto Ster-Kinekor's digital projectors from 6 August, long after the film has already been released in East and West Africa as well as other parts of Southern Africa, and will be in IMAX theatres in South Africa from 13 August.
Ryan Reynolds in Free
Guy will release on 20 August, after which Hardin and Tessa return for a third installment of the "After" franchise in After we Fell , releasing at Ster-Kinekor cinemas on 3
September.
Film critics chasing time
After all film screenings for media were abruptly cancelled on 16 July, South African film critics and journalists in Cape Town and Johannesburg will be able to return to cinemas with their notebooks and glow-in-the-dark pens from August but with a catch.
With the severe disruption of the press screening schedule for films, distributors have had no other choice but to drastically reduce the lead time between screening dates and the release date of films.
Instead of weeks, and sometimes even a month in advance, South Africa's film critics will now have less than 16 hours, just a day, or only 48 hours to watch some films and then churn out their reviews.
In some cases, what in industry parlance is referred to as the "review embargo date" - the pre-determined studio first date by which publications and critics are allowed to publish possible reviews - are not even relevant anymore since the review embargo date now falls even before the press screening date.
It means that South African film critics would theoretically be able to walk out of a cinema's press screening and immediately be able to share their views and opinions on films like Disney's Jungle Cruise, Marvel Studios' Black Widow and even 20th Century Studios' Free Guy since review screenings are scheduled after embargo dates that no longer apply.
