AMC Movie Theaters to Stay Open at 50% Capacity Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

AMC Theatres has announced that movie theaters around the country will remain open amid the coronavirus pandemic, but they will practice “social distancing” by keeping theaters at a maximum of 50 percent capacity.

There will be hourly cleanings of “high touch” surfaced inside the AMC locations, including “kiosks, counter tops, restroom areas, glass, handrails and doorknobs,” according to Variety.

If theaters have more than 500 seats, the maximum capacity will still be kept at 250 people per theater.

“These are uncharted times in the United States. 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,” AMC’s president and CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.

Click inside for full details on AMC’s plan…

You can read the full plan below:

AMC’s Plan for Coronavirus Outbreak

Beginning tomorrow Saturday, March 14 and continuing until April 30, 2020, AMC will cut in half the seating capacity of every one of its theatre’s auditoriums. It will do so by capping ticket sales for each showtime in each of its theatre’s auditoriums to an amount equal to 50% of the normal seating capacity. In those auditoriums with more than 500 seats, AMC will further cap ticket sales to a maximum of 250 in any case.

AMC is also actively complying with all local authorities’ directives on social gathering and is further reducing the availability of tickets to comply with any current or future federal, state or local governmental order.

ENHANCED THEATRE CLEANING

AMC theatre teams are following AMC’s stringent health and safety cleaning protocols, which have been enhanced to ensure that at least once per hour within an AMC building, the theatre team is cleaning high-touch point areas, including kiosks, counter tops, restroom areas, glass, handrails and doorknobs. In addition, AMC cleans every auditorium between every showtime.

GUIDANCE FOR GUESTS AND THEATRE STAFF

AMC has mandated that any theatre associate who feels ill is excused from work and should not come to the theatre. Additionally, AMC urges all its potential guests to stay at home and seek medical assistance if they are not feeling well.