The magic of the movies is making a return after five months, under the new level 2 national lockdown and Nu Metro Cinemas are taking strict precautions to ensure its patrons safety.
Nu Metro Cinemas will be opening on Friday, August 28 in most of their flagship cinema complexes in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Giyani (Limpopo). With others opening in the near future.
Chantelle Burrows, Nu Metro Cinemas: Marketing and Content Executive said nothing can ever replace the cinematic experience of enjoying movies in the way they were meant to be seen.
“Nu Metro is very excited to go big again with the magic of the movies. Our commitment and responsibility towards customers have never been stronger as we face this ‘new normal’ together. Public’s safety, as well as the safety and health of our team members, is our highest priority,” she said.
Cinemas will initially only be opened on Fridays to Sundays and on public holidays with limited showtimes per day.
“Based on level 2 lockdown regulations, the scheduling of films is planned in such a way to ensure adherence to the current 10pm curfew and to effectively support measures to enable social distancing, avoid over-crowding in foyers and limit capacities per cinema,” Burrows said.
Nu Metro will implement the following health and safety protocols:
1. Online bookings are encouraged through Nu Metro’s website prior to customers visiting cinemas. At cinemas, purchases can be made at the self-service terminals.
2. Mask-wearing will be mandatory for all customers and staff. Masks can only be taken off while eating or drinking.
3. Temperature checks will be done on arrival for all customers and staff.
4. Nu Metro is enabling social distancing by introducing at least 1.5 metre of distance between booked seats. And cinema capacity is also capped at below 50 visitors.
5. The stagger-time between shows has been increased to limit the number of guests in foyers at the same time.
6. Customers will have direct access to hand sanitiser at cinema access points.
7. All cinemas will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before and after each and every show, along with a nightly deep-cleaning of all complexes.
8. All high-touch point areas will be disinfected on a regular basis daily – with the cleaning frequency for service counters every 30 minutes.
9. All staff have been retrained in effective and frequent hand-washing.