Let the games resume Cineplex opens door to Rec Room just a bit, with plans for wider opening within weeks By: Randall King Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Jun. 15, 2020 Last Modified: 1:26 PM CDT Tuesday, Jun. 16, 2020 Updates

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This article was published 14/06/2020 (1558 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was exactly three months ago Cineplex closed all the company’s cinemas and entertainment venues across the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including their shiny new Rec Room gaming facility on Sterling Lyon Parkway, open less than four weeks before it was shut down.

That same Rec Room location is the first Cineplex operation in the country to re-open, as of Monday at 4 p.m. But that doesn’t mean you should anticipate saddling up in the Halo game pod just yet.

“The Rec Room at Seasons is opening today with measured operations,” said Sarah Van Lange, Cineplex’s executive director of communications.

This week, that means the facility’s patio opened Monday afternoon “to allow for physical distancing” in accordance with provincial government guidelines. The Three10 restaurant/bar will be open by Friday.

The entirety of the 42,000-square-foot Rec Room space, including the game area, may be open as early as next Monday, June 22, pending approval from the province. That section may be delayed to early July, however.

“There are restrictions that we are just working through, given the fact that we are an eats-and-entertainment concept,” says Christina Kuypers, Cineplex’s vice-president of operations for The Rec Room. “We straddle both, so we have different restrictions that we need to operate within, so we’re just working on ensuring that we are compliant on both.”

The fact the facility closed so soon after its opening was painful, says Kuypers.

“We had such a warm welcome and an incredible reception from the community,” she says. “That’s one of the reasons why we held off from opening the patio, even though that was available to us for the last several weeks.

“We wanted to take the extra pains to ensure our guests’ and our employees’ safety,” she says. “We wanted to have our precautionary measures mapped out thoroughly before we reopened.”

The opening of the games area will require sanitation efforts from both customer and staff, including sanitizing wipes available at every game station.

“You’re able to clean the equipment before and after you use it and that will be one of the requirements in Manitoba,” says Kuypers. “It’s something we’ve actually stipulated nationally for all of our Rec Rooms and Playdiums.”

 

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As for Cineplex’s cinemas, there is a projection light at the end of the tunnel for movie fans as well. The company is working towards reopening six theatres in Alberta on June 26 and in all markets (where Cineplex is permitted by government and health authorities) on July 3. 

The third phase of Manitoba’s reopening plan is tentatively set for June 21. It involves allowing larger gatherings of up to 50 people indoors, but it is not yet clear if that phase will accommodate movie theatres.

“We’re opening as soon as we are able to, and we’re hoping we’re going to be able to add theatres across the province to our list,” says Van Lange. “We’re targeting for July 3, but that hasn’t been determined yet.

“It’s a little bit up in the air, but we’re looking forward to that as soon as we’re given the go-ahead, and all of our planning is done and we’ve got PPE (personal protective equipment) at the theatres and our signage is ready.”

To help ensure social distancing in the cinemas, “we will be rolling in reserved seating across our entire network of theatres,” Van Lange says.

“We wanted to take the extra pains to ensure our guests’ and our employees’ safety. We wanted to have our precautionary measures mapped out thoroughly before we reopened.” — Christina Kuypers, Cineplex’s vice-president of operations for The Rec Room

One issue is that the movie release schedule has been radically altered by the pandemic. Films that should have been released already, such as Wonder Woman 1984 or the James Bond entry No Time to Die, have been re-scheduled to later in the year. The one new release we might expect to see in July is the Christopher Nolan thriller Tenet which is scheduled to be released on July 31.

“The plan right now is we’ll be releasing previously released titles,” says Van Lange. “So we will likely have a lower ticketing cost for our guests when they come in.

“We’ll also be doing things like have a smaller concession offering. Of course our famous popcorn will be available but we will be limiting the food that will be prepared to give our team the chance to ramp up with the new procedures.

“Of course, we will have enhanced cleaning protocols throughout our buildings will be ensuring that our team have the PPE that they need.”

 

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The openings come at a time when Cineplex is suffering a crisis parallel to the pandemic shutdowns: the cancellation of a $2.8-billion acquisition of Cineplex, by the U.K.-headquartered Cineworld Group. 

In the wake of that cancellation on Friday, shares of Cineplex Inc. fell more then 20 per cent Monday morning in the first trading session since the acquisition fell apart. Cineplex shares dropped $2.85 to $10.97 per share in morning trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Both Cineplex and Cineworld disclosed what they alleged was a breach of contract in their deal.

Cineworld, which is headquartered in London, says it became aware of a material adverse effect and breaches by the Toronto-based Cineplex, which led it to scrap the deal, while Cineplex claims there is “no legal basis” to terminate the agreement, and that it is Cineworld that has breached the contract.

Neither side outlined the specific allegations in their statements, but Cineplex noted the contract explicitly excludes “outbreaks of illness or other acts of God” from what would be considered material adverse effects of the deal.

 

— With files from CP

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing