Last week, it was reported that L.A. and New York City may begin to mandate vaccinations in order to go to a theater. On Monday, theater owners revealed that they would not oppose a mandate. According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, the National Association of Theatre Owners isn’t taking a position for or against the mandates as many theatre owners see them as a way to keep cinemas open as the pandemic continues. National Association of Theatre Owners president John Fithian stated,
“In order for the exhibition industry to fully recover, we need more people to be vaccinated,”
“It’s pure science. The rates of shots had went quite well for a while in the U.S. and then they dropped off. We need them to keep going.”
“Don’t get me wrong. There are going to be some lost ticket sales in the short term. Working through how we implement it and how we deal with the economics are challenges, but we’re not going to oppose it, because people need to get vaccinated.”
Per the report, moviegoing comfort levels have dropped drastically in recent weeks corresponding to the rise of delta variant cases of COVID-19 and that shift has had a major impact at the box office. The report notes that several Hollywood studio executives think proof of vaccination is a positive thing, with one quoted as saying
“I personally would feel better about going to the movies myself.”
