If you were planning to take the family out to a movie in Habersham County this week, you’ll have to wait.
Georgia Theatre Company (GTC) which owns the county’s sole movie theater says Habersham Hills Cinema will stay closed due to the pandemic.
“Although the Governor will allow us to open our theatres in Georgia today, we will not be opening for several weeks,” GTC President Bo Chambliss tells Now Habersham.
GTC and the nation’s largest movie chains – AMC, Regal, and Cinemark – closed their doors on March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. GTC had planned to reopen in early April, but that changed as the pandemic worsened and states shut down all but essential businesses.
Waiting for blockbusters
In addition to the theater in Mt. Airy, GTC owns screens in Athens, Commerce, and Marietta, among others. AMC and Regal own most of the other movie theaters in Northeast Georgia.
Now that Gov. Brian Kemp is easing up on business restrictions, Chambliss says his company is doing what it can to provide a “safe and comfortable environment” for employees and customers. “We are putting systems in place and ordering supplies that we will need to achieve the level of safety our employees and customers will expect.”
AMC said on Friday it won’t open any of its more than 600 locations until new movies are released. Cinemark is following suit.
Warner Brother’s Tenet and Disney’s Mulan are due to be released in July.
Chambliss says GTC will open its theaters “a few weeks before” Tenet opens on July 17 and show older films “to build some momentum for movie-going.”
“We believe there is a lot of pent-up demand for movie-going and expect people want to get out of their houses to see a movie as soon as they can,” Chambliss says. He optimistically adds, “Business will be back to usual before we know it.”
