Rockford’s Showplace 16 To Reopen August 20th

AMC's Showplace 16 is part of their first round of reopenings, but Machesney Park's Showplace 14 didn't make the cut.

It's probably been since March that you've spent anytime hanging around a movie theater, at least here in the Rockford area. AMC Theaters are banking on you really missing out on the experience, and are hoping that there'll be a lot of other people who've really been wanting to see a movie on the big screen once again.

With that in mind, AMC has announced the reopening of around 100 of their movie complexes across the nation. They plan a second phase of reopenings in September.

AMC says that they're ready to take on movie-goers once again, and that they've put protocols in place so that you can feel safe with your decision to venture into a theater again. AMC has instituted seat blocking, limiting the number of tickets sold for a show, and allowed for extra time between showings. They've added HEPA vacuums and electrostatic sprayers, too.

The question remains whether Americans have been missing the movie theater experience as much as AMC and other theater groups hope we have.

After doing a completely non-scientific study of about 20 people around here on this topic, I found that 18 of the 20 people I talked to are really in no big hurry to get back to the world of sticky floors and overpriced concessions. Most of those who weighed in said they'd be watching and waiting to see what happens. They also pointed out that there really aren't any announced big blockbusters that are tempting them.

As for here in Illinois, these are the other AMC Theater complexes that plan on opening next Thursday, August 20th:

Crestwood 18
Ford City 14
Hawthorn 12
Oakbrook Center 12
Naperville 16
Dine-In Northbrook 14
Dine-In 600 North Michigan 9
River East 21
Schererville 16
South Barrington 24
Streets of Woodfield 20
Village Crossing 18

To sweeten the pot a bit, AMC says that they'll only be charging 15 cents for admission on opening day. They're calling it “Movies in 2020 at 1920 Prices.” The movies, however, will not be movies from 2020. They'll be what are called "catalog films." The fifteen-cent movies will include “Ghostbusters,” “Black Panther,” “Back to the Future,” and “Grease.” After opening day it'll cost you 5 dollars to see those films.