The world’s largest theatre chain won’t require visitors to wear masks

Representatives of AMC’s theatre network believe that such a demand would drag the company into unproductive discussions on a politically controversial issue.

AMC’s theatre network is the largest in the world; it operates more than 1,000 cinemas in the US and Europe. After the opening of cinemas due to the easing of the quarantine regime, which is scheduled to begin in the U.S. on July 15th, the company’s management decided to encourage visitors to wear masks, but not to put forward a strict requirement. This applies to those regions where wearing such personal protective equipment is not mandatory or required by local authorities. 

Allowing large groups of people to gather indoors increases the risk of transmitting the virus, especially in places equipped with air conditioning. However, network management has decided to rely on the common sense of its customers, and not impose restrictions. A similar decision was made by other major U.S. cinema chains, Cinemark and Regal, that decided to avoid imposing strict regulations.

As the company’s CEO and President Adam Aron explained in an interview with Variety: “We thought it would be counterproductive to force people to wear the mask when they firmly believe that this is not necessary.”

Aron suspects, however, that most visitors will still wear masks voluntarily. The cinema chain plans to encourage this by offering to purchase a mask at the entrance for one dollar.