It was sadly inevitable that the Coronavirus would take its toll on the entertainment industry and not only have many events been cancelled after the announcement from PM Boris Johnson about events and people coming together but now the announcements are coming along from the theatres and cinemas.
Cineworld has announced that after tonight they will be closing across the UK and Ireland and this is a blow as one of the biggest chains closes down in the midst of the coronavirus, in turn, this let many scrambling to Twitter to ask the company about where this leaves Cineworld Unlimited cardholders.
In a statement on the Cineworld website, they said, “We will be closing all Cineworld cinemas across the UK from tomorrow (Wednesday, 18 March) and in Ireland from today (Tuesday, 17 March 2020), until further notice. This decision was made in the light of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and recent UK government advice, which the company has been carefully monitoring and following.“
With regards to the very popular Cineworld Card, they went on to say, “We are temporarily suspending activities at our cinemas, however, your membership will continue in line with the Unlimited membership terms (please see clause 15.2 which explains what can happen in circumstances beyond Cineworld’s reasonable control). However, we’d like to reassure you that you will not lose the value of the fees charged for your Unlimited subscription.“
Smaller cinema chains are also feeling the pressure and Merlin Cinemas has also decided to close after tonight and in an email going out to customers they said, “At Merlin Cinemas we are committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for our employees and customers. With this in mind and following government guidelines we have made the difficult decision to shut our cinemas as of the close of business today, Tuesday 17th March, until further notice. We would like to thank all of our customers and staff for their support recently in these very difficult times. We plan to have an urgent management meeting tomorrow and will aim to provide a full update within 48 hours. This will include details regarding advance cinema and theatre bookings.”
Along with cinemas, the theatres are also closing down, our very own Venue Cymru, which many of you know that I visit frequently for my love of theatre along with Theatre Colwyn have also put out a statement to their customers, “In response to the Prime Minister’s statement this evening, advising the UK public to avoid unnecessary social contact, we regret to inform you that Venue Cymru and Theatr Colwyn will not be staging shows or screening films at this time. We will continue to follow the guidance as to when we should recommence our programme.“
Further in the statement they kindly asked customers, “not contact the box office as our teams will be contacting you soon with further details regarding cancelled and postponed events.” and that they would be getting in touch with those that have purchased tickets for shows/events.
Many of the Comic-Con events have also been postponed such as Wales Comic Con which relocated to Telford last year and has moved its dates to August 22-23 2020.
Here at Blazing Minds HQ, we are updating the diary to remove events from it and update the new dates for those that have been postponed and also waiting on a few events to make announcements of their intentions due to their “mass gatherings”.
These are very testing times for the entertainment industry and it’s unsure how the Coronavirus is going to have a knock-on effect to the future of cinemas, theatres and venues across the UK, only time is going to tell, but for now we all have to make sure we stay safe.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
