Showtimes have returned to the Capitol Theatre marquee as the cinema prepares for its reopening weekend.
For a safe return, hand sanitizer will be provided to patrons and the venue will have spaced seating, with certain seats blocked off. The theatre will still sell concessions and employees will wear masks and gloves for safety.
On what else movie-goers should know ahead of the reopening, theatre general manager Chris Wood advises, “Be patient. It’s all new to us, too.”
Natalie Pressman/NNSL photo
Wood admits he worries that those who should be isolating will get bored and decide it’s OK to see a movie.
“I don’t want to be the centre of a new outbreak,” he says.
The theatre has chosen The Spongebob Movie, Unhinged, and E.T. to fill its screens Friday through Sunday, though Wood says they considered opening with the Breakfast Club after its signboard pleaded Yellowknifers to not forget about the moviehouse – a reference to the John Hughes film classic.
Wood remembers seeing E.T for the first time when the film came out in the '80s. He was working for a theatre in Toronto at the time and was invited to a pre-release screening through his workplace. He recalls seeing the executive sitting next to him burst into tears at one point.
“That’s when I knew this movie was going to be huge,” he says.
There are two showtimes for each of the three films on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
As new releases have evidently slowed during the pandemic, Wood says they will be playing a lot of old classics to entice customers back to the big screens.
“We are just beyond excited,” he said of the long-awaited opportunity to reopen.
