Showcase Cinema at Birstall retail park reveals its opening date

The re-opening of Showcase Cinemas sites comes with new enhanced health and safety measures for both customers and staff.

On re-opening the doors to Showcase Cinemas, UK General Manager Mark Barlow said: “We are all really excited about welcoming film fans back to Showcase Cinemas.

“We’ve been busy preparing for our re-opening by making all our sites as Showcase Safe as possible for the comfort of both staff and guests, which has always been our top priority. We encourage all our guests to use the hand sanitiser available, regularly wash their hands, wear a face covering and practice social distancing when inside the cinema.

“There are some fantastic films to be released in 2020 and we can’t wait to see people enjoying movies back on the big screen. We’ve also brought some classic hits and recent favourites back to remind everyone just how great it is to see them in the cinema.”

New safety protocols are designed to help everyone “Be Showcase Safe” and include a limited capacity in every cinema screen to maintain social distancing, staggered film start times during the day alongside fewer screenings, which mean fewer people in the lobby at any one time.

Guests are encouraged to wear face coverings, and multiple hand sanitising stations have been placed throughout the cinema for guests to use.

After each screening, staff will conduct a thorough cleaning regime, which includes a new anti-viral fogging machine that eliminates airborne viruses on contact, and will be used on every seat in every screen between shows and at the end of each day. Each auditorium will also have a new air purifying system installed that also kills airborne viruses.

Perspex shields have been installed at all till points and film goers will now also be able to order their food and drink in advance and collect from a designated pick up section. Contactless payment is encouraged for any purchases made in cinema.

Another new initiative is the self scanning of tickets to enter film screenings – guests that have booked tickets online in advance will be able to scan their confirmation email on their smartphone in order to gain access to their film. Alternatively, they can use the self service ticket collection machines in the lobby.

To welcome back cinemagoers, Showcase Cinemas will be screening a raft of classic films for just £5 a ticket ahead of the release of Disney’s Mulan and Christopher Nolan’s hotly anticipated Tenet later in July.