| | |  Entertainment | May 2009 
Mexico Movie Theaters Under Strict Health Precautions
 Sari N. Kent - The Celebrity Cafe
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Mexico’s Swine flu outbreak has resulted in a multitude of problems for the country’s entertainment industry such as theater closings, loss of revenue, stern patron and employee policies as well as numerous release date postponements.
Due to the confirmed cases of the Swine Flu that have been identified in Mexico, both patrons and employees of Mexico’s movie theaters have been given strict precautions and directions to lessen the possibility of more people becoming infected.
According to an article in Variety, “Theater employees will be required to wear masks and gloves if they are handling food, scrutinize customers for flu-like symptoms, offer anti-bacterial gel to ticket holders and thoroughly clean theaters with detergent or bleach after each screening.”
As for the schedule of release dates for films to be shown in Mexico’s theaters, the studios have been hard at work rearranging release dates due to theater closings, but may have to do even more reshuffling because of the stringent regulations.
Twentieth Century Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine was set to be released in theaters on April 28 but was then postponed to May 15, and wasn’t released on that date either, due to the flu outbreak.
The change in X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s release date set of a domino effect that caused other studios to follow suit. Paramount said it was moving Star Trek from May 8 to June 5, while Sony moved Angels and Demons from May 15 to June 12. It’s unclear whether Star Trek will be pushed back again as well. Sony said Angels is still slated to be released on June 12.
The Variety article then details the remainder of Mexico’s movie release date calendar, “As the release calendar stands now, ‘Terminator Salvation’ has moved from June 5 to July 31; ‘Ghosts of Girlfriends Past’ from Friday [May 15] to June 12; ‘Earth’ from April 30 to May 15; and ‘Hannah Montana: The Movie’ from April 30 to May 22. ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ is still set for July 15.”
The Swine flu has also affected theaters' revenues as the Variety article states, “National Film Chamber Cancine said theater owners have already lost $20 million because of the closings. . . . Cancine director Alejandro Ramirez said that number rises to $24 million when including lost wages and other indirect costs.”
The imposed requirement on patrons sitting seven feet apart from one another also hasn’t helped box office revenues. |
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