When will cinemas open in Australia? Cinemas will be allowed to re-open across Australia during stage two of the three-stage coronavirus roadmap to recovery, as laid out by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
During stage two, cinemas will be allowed to open their doors to 20 patrons, as long as they follow social distancing rules (i.e. cinema-goers will need to maintain a distance of 1.5 metres from one another). The exact date for cinemas opening across Australia will depend on when each state and territory enters stage two of the coronavirus recovery plan.
Here’s what we know.
New South Wales
Cinemas in New South Wales are expected to reopen on July 1.
Victoria
Cinemas are expected to open on June 22. Despite the re-tightening of restrictions in Victoria over the weekend, some cinemas will still be opening to 20 patrons at a time, others will be waiting until July 2, until the future of social distancing in Victoria becomes clearer.
Queensland
Cinemas in Queensland were allowed to reopen on June 12, when the state entered stage two of the recovery plan.
During this stage, groups of 20 people will be allowed to meet each other in public. It is also expected that gyms, swimming pools, museums, libraries and camping areas will re-open during this stage.
Western Australia
Cinemas in Western Australia were allowed to reopen on June 6, during stage three of the recovery roadmap. This date has not yet been finalised, but it is expected to take place four weeks from the commencement date of stage three, according to the Western Australian government.
During stage three, public playgrounds, outdoor gym equipment, skate parks, zoos, galleries, museums and concert venues are permitted to open, with gathering limits.
Tasmania
Cinemas in Tasmania were allowed to reopen on June 15, during stage two of the Tasmanian roadmap to recovery. This date is subject to public health advice.
If stage two goes ahead as planned, 20 patrons at a time will be allowed to attend cinemas in Tasmania, as well as restaurants andcafes, museums, galleries, theatres, performance venues, historic sites, religious gatherings and weddings.
South Australia
Cinemas in South Australia were allowed to reopen on June 8, during stage two of the South Australian roadmap to recovery.
If stage two goes ahead as planned, 20 patrons at a time will also be allowed to visit restaurants, cafes, and beauty, nail, massage and tattoo parlours, following the one-person-per-four-square-metre rule.
Northern Territory
Cinemas in Northern Territory were allowed to reopen on June 5, during stage three of the region’s recovery roadmap.
During stage three, an unspecified number of patrons will be allowed to attend theatres, concert halls, music halls, dance halls, nightclubs or any other similar entertainment venue in approved configuration, according to the Northern Territory government.
Australian Capital Territory
There is no specified date for when cinemas in the Australian Capital Territory will re-open, but it is expected that cinemas will not reopen in ACT until July.
In an ACT government statement, Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman said:
“Although restrictions have eased, our responsibilities have not. Be mindful when you leave the house and continue to maintain physical distance and good hand hygiene. We need to behave as though we have COVID-19 and everyone around us has COVID-19.”
This article will be regularly updated to keep you updated about when cinemas are open in your area.
Social distancing updates
- New South Wales
- Victoria
- Queensland
- Western Australia
- Tasmania
- South Australia
- Northern Territory
- Australian Capital Territory
The outlook for Australian cinema-goers is dismal. In South Korea, which never locked down and whose cinemas remained open throughout the pandemic, box office sales have plummeted. In May, just over 1.5 million tickets were sold, down from 17 million in January (figures are from the Korean Film Council). That’s a slight improvement over April, which fell to record lows of less than 1 million. No business can survive downturns of such magnitude.
In Australia, Palace Cinema’s MD Benjamin Zeccola is under no illusion about how difficult reopening it will. He’s told every journalist who has asked that reopening is only possible because of Jobseeker (ie. the taxpayer paying his staff operating costs) and sweetheart deals with his landlords. When both come to an end, as they inevitably will, his art house and overseas festival business model is finished. It simply cannot survive on choc tops and expensive glasses of pinot if room capacity is limited to 25%.
But at least art houses have some content to exhibit – mainly movies whose runs were truncated back in March plus their some oldies. Few distributors are releasing anything new into such a limited market, while the smaller production houses and Indies are tentatively embracing the inevitable, and experimenting with digital only releases. There’s little data on how that’s working so far, but anecdotally: Not very well…
Most of the cinema chains are dipping their toes in the water in July, but longer term issues remain. No one really knows if cinema’s elderly-skewed audience have been scared off congregating in enclosed spaces forever, nor just how much encouragement (discounting) is required to get them back. Pretty much all of the big budget blockbusters have been held backed back indefinitely, leaving only limited appeal indies and minor foreign films as supposed draw cards. An additional problem is the that the core businesses of most cinemas chains (Event, Hoyts and Village) are property development, theme parks and hospitality – all industries which have been decimated by the Covid lockdown recession.
By this time next year, few are likely to be still standing.