Cinema chain’s first screening upon reopening gets paltry response
KUCHING: A cinema chain, mmCineplexes, received very poor response for its first screening upon reopening yesterday at both branches here.
The Summer Mall branch only had four moviegoers coming for the 11.40am screening of ‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’, while at Riverside Shopping Mall, there were no takers for the 11.40am show of ‘Rasuk 2’.
“I expect there would be more people in the afternoon; (seemed like) not many (people) knew that we reopened today ( Friday),” said mmCineplexes Summer Mall manager Andria Jalin.
She said her branch was showing ‘ Ip Man 4: The Finale’, ‘ Rasuk 2’ and ‘ Pee Nak 2’ – all reruns – with the tickets priced at RM5 apiece.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is Sarawak Disaster Management Committee ( SDMC) chairman, had on Wednesday announced that cinemas in Sarawak could reopen with immediate effect, but the operators must adhere to the standard operating procedures ( SOP) set by the state Local Government and Housing Ministry.
Also under the SOP, the snacks bar is not allowed to open at the moment, and moviegoers must be seated at least 1m apart from one another; this means that all seats, including the couple’s seats, are being sold as single seats.
In addition, the patrons must also show their MyKad at the entrance as proof that they are of the age allowed under the SOP to enter cinema, which is between 12 and 61 years old.
They must have their temperatures checked, their contact details taken, and their hands sanitised prior to entering.
“They must also wear face masks the entire time inside the movie hall,” said Andria.
Asked on preparations for reopening, Andria said they kicked off last month by disinfecting the whole cinema areas and marking the seats and floors for social distancing.
At mmCineplexes Riverside Shopping Centre, the senior executive Madina Amalina said only two movies were showing yesterday, ‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’ and ‘Rasuk 2’.
“We have four halls, but we are only using two as we are only showing reruns at the moment.
“We’re quite sad as we have yet to receive any customers – maybe not many people know that we have opened, or that they may have seen the movies that we are showing now.”
Attempts to contact other cinema operators yesterday was futile.
However, a check online showed that all of them opened yesterday, and like mmCineplexes, they were also showing reruns.