After almost a year, moviegoers are being allowed to return to theaters in New York City—and the Friday reopening is expected to have implications far beyond the Big Apple. The city, America's second-biggest movie market after Los Angeles, where cinemas are still closed, is allowing theaters to reopen with numerous restrictions, Time Out reports. Masks will be mandatory when not eating or drinking, and cinemas are restricted to 25% of capacity, or about 50 people per screen. Assigned seating and enhanced air filtration systems also will be required. Theaters in New York City have been closed since March 17 last year. It is the last region of New York state to allow cinemas to reopen. More:
- Blockbusters could soon follow. Quartz notes that Hollywood has a backlog of blockbusters it has been waiting to release, and with New York opening up, it might stick to the spring release dates for movies like Black Widow instead of delaying them again.