Two months after closing its doors, the first Chinese Movie theater is trying to reopen as the Coronavirus is in decline in China. Variety reports that the Zhongying Golden Palm Cinema in Urumqi tried to make a soft opening on Monday. The theatre had been closed since January 26th.
The first day of screenings included Chinese titles such as Liberation, My People, My Country, Sheep Without a Shepherd, and the animated film Spycies. It also offered four children movies including three in the Alibaba franchise. The theater, which is located in the capital of the Xinjiang region in western China, tried to lure people in with free screenings for parents with children, but not a single person arrived.
“We can’t stay closed forever,” the theater operator said in a statement. “We can only cooperate with the notices, and test the situation a bit, and see what feedback we get from the public. If there are no new films, it makes no difference if we’re open or not. At the moment, we only have these few films; we have to wait and see if there will be new movies released.”
For safety reasons, the theater will be operated by only three staff members who will disinfect the theaters before and after the screenings. Tickets will only be sold in the theater and not online.
