MOVIES RETURN TO BRENDEN THEATRES
It has not been an easy 12 months for avid moviegoers. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic movie theaters have been largely closed, prompting Hollywood studios to postpone their biggest releases or release them straight to streaming sites.
While not all theaters are open, Vacaville movie lovers will no longer have to experience big screen withdrawal. On Wednesday, the digital projectors were buzzing and the popcorn machines were overflowing as Brenden Theatres resumed showing movies for the first time in a year, albeit with social distancing measures in place.
Laura Hoppaugh, the Vacaville multiplex’s general manager, was excited to be back up and running.
“It’s a lot to get ready all at once, but just to be able to go back to work on a regular schedule and get to see my employees and just what a movie theater provides for a community is just so important,” she said.
Starting at 3 p.m., movies began being shown at Brenden again. The last time Hoppaugh said the theater did so was March 17, 2020, which she esti
mates was about a week before Disney’s live-action remake of “Mulan” was set to debut.
“We didn’t make that opening,” she said.
In the intervening time, Brenden has largely gone dark, although the theater did start holding curbside sales of popcorn and other concessions, which Hoppaugh said started off strong and dipped over time. Solar panels were also installed in the roof to move the theater closer to green energy.
For the past month and a half, Hoppaugh said Brenden had been planning to reopen, especially as Solano County was planning to move back into the red tier. Earlier this month, an official reopening date was set for March 31 to coincide with the release of “Godzilla vs. Kong,” a big-budget action movie that pits the two iconic movie monsters against one another.
“I already had things in the works just because we had heard that we would be going into the red tier soon,” Hoppaugh said. “We were preparing, but March 9 is when we decided, ‘We think we can make it right in time for Godzilla vs. Kong.’”
With Solano officially in the red tier, the theater is open but with restrictions. Additional check-in stations have been installed, hand sanitizer is readily available, the small arcade area is closed and the seating capacity has been reduced to 25 percent. While buying tickets at the theater is allowed, patrons are encouraged to buy their tickets online in advance.
Social distancing is also in place in the auditoriums.
“We have a dynamic seating assignment,” Hoppaugh said. “When you book a seat online, it automatically blocks off the seat right next to you so you don’t have to be concerned about buying a ticket, coming in and having somebody sit right next to you, unless you’re sitting in the wrong seat, in which case we’ll fix it.”
Hoppaugh also said most of the same concessions would be available, including popcorn, soda and slushies, but other items and sizes will not be available.
Based on advanced ticket sales and interactions with moviegoers, “Godzilla vs.
Kong” was easily shaping up to be the Easter weekend’s hit. However, Brenden was showing a slate of other movies on its first day, including “Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Nobody,” “Chaos Walking,” “Tom and Jerry,” “Minari,” “Promising Young Woman,” “The Croods: A New Age,” “The Courier,” “The Marksman,” “Long Weekend” and “Monster Hunter.”
Danny Kelly was one “Godzilla vs. Kong” viewer. He looked forward to being in a local theater, after going to the movies up in Sacramento a few weeks ago.
“It’s wonderful Vacaville’s opening up more and more stuff,” he said. “We went to Black Bear (Diner) this morning, and it was nice.”
For Corbin Datzman and his brother Quinn, it was a bit of a homecoming as they used to work at Brenden. Having not seen a movie in a theater in more than a year, Corbin said he has mostly been watching movies at home which he said does not compare.
“It’s definitely not the same experience at all,” he said. “The crowd’s reaction and sitting in the seats, it’s not even close to the same.”
However, Corbin and his brother were eagerly anticipating the showing of “Godzilla vs. Kong” and the moviegoing experience that comes with it.
“I miss sitting in the theater with the crowds and the popcorn and everything like that,” he said.
Hoppaugh also said going to the movies was a much different experience than watching them at home.
“It’s a more immersive experience,” she said. “For me, when I’m watching a show at home, I know I can easily get distracted, but when you’re sitting in front of a giant screen and you’re in a recliner and you’ve got some popcorn and a soda, there’s nothing like it.”
Brenden is located at 531 Davis St. For showtimes, visit Fandango.com/brenden-vacaville-16-and-jbxaajyn/theater-page.