Regal Cinemas To Begin Reopening In April — But Not In NH Yet

Update: After this story was published, Regal Theatres updated its list of movie theatre openings. The Fox Run Mall location in Newington will open on May 7; the Hooksett theatres will open on May 14; and the Concord location will open on May 21.

The original story is below.

CONCORD, NH — The nation's second-largest movie theatre chain is reopening its theatres — but not yet in New Hampshire.

Regal Cinemas made the announcement last week that it would begin reopening many of its 543 locations on April 2, according to Yahoo.com. The announcement came after the chain's parent company, Cineworld, also revealed an agreement with Warner Bros. to get exclusivity on new movies next year.

Capacity in theatres will be limited to between 25 to 50 percent of the potential audience seating. The first wave of openings will be in California, Florida, Oklahoma, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Washington, according to the company's website. In New Hampshire, the company has multiplexes in Concord, Hooksett, and Newington — but none of those locations are featured on the reopening list. Regal's locations in New Hampshire opened last summer but closed again in October 2020.

According to press accounts, the company hopes to make a big reopening splash with the new "Godzilla vs. King Kong" movie, slated to open Wednesday.

See the new Godzilla trailer below.

Regal posted this video on safety protocols in August 2020 and has updated its safety guidelines here.

AMC Theatres, the country's largest cinema chain, has also been slowly reopening its theatres, too, and hopes to have all but a handful back in business before the end of the month. AMC's only location in New Hampshire, Londonderry, has multiple screens and private theatre rentals available. There are also AMC theatres located just over the Massachusetts border in Tyngsboro and Methuen.

Chunky's Cinema Pub, with locations in Manchester, Nashua, and Pelham, has been reopened for more than nine months. Along with movies, it presents comedy shows, trivia nights, and other events, too, and has theatre rental options. Its first showings of "Godzilla vs. King Kong" will be at its Manchester location at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Cinemark, which recently opened a new theatre in Salem, also has tickets available for the new Godzilla movie beginning on Wednesday. The theatre also offers private watch parties and contactless snack orders.

The parent company of Cinemagic Theatres announced in late February that it was closing all of its eight theatres.

Red River Theatres, the arthouse cinema in Concord, remains closed but has teamed up with distributors to show virtual films online.

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