Picturehouse and Cineworld cinemas will be reopening on July 10

Some long-awaited good news for cinephiles today. Cineworld, along with its Picturehouse chain, will be throwing open its doors to moviegoers on July 10 – with new safety and social-distancing measures in place.

The multiplex chain, which runs 128 cinemas in the UK and Ireland, including 26 Picturehouses, will have its projectors whirring again a week after the government’s approved date for cinemas to reopen, July 4 – although only in England. Dates for its cinemas in other parts of the UK and Ireland are still TBC, pending the go-ahead from the Scotland, Wales and Ireland's governments.

Cineworld and Picturehouse will be implementing strict social-distancing and hygiene measures: expect lots of hand-sanitiser stations, staff with Covid-19 training, deep cleans, contactless payment up to £45, plastic screens at tills and staggered screening times. 

‘Film start and end times will be staggered to reduce customers crossing paths with other customers going in or out of other screens and buildup of crowds in the foyer,’ says Cineworld in a statement. ‘Additional cleaning time will be added between films.’

You’ll be able to book seats with members of your family group but there will be space left between both rows and seats. How much space – and the capacity of the screens themselves – will depend on whether the government changes its stance on two-metre social distancing in the interim.

Movie-wise, July’s biggest draw cards are Disney’s live-action adventure ‘Mulan’ and Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated ‘Tenet’. Expect more movies to be added to the slate between now and then as cinemas look to get audiences back into their moviegoing habits.

Head to the Cineworld website and the Picturehouse website for all the info on those safety measures.

Next year’s Oscars have been officially postponed to April 25 2021.

A socially distanced outdoor cinema is coming to London (no car required).