Malaysian cinemas are back! Here are the opening dates for all cinemas

As was announced by the government last week, cinemas in Malaysia will be allowed to resume operations as of 1 July 2020, after having been temporarily shuttered for more than three months since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced on 18 March.

All cinemas will have to adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) approved by the government, which include gap seating in cinemas, providing hand sanitizers, temperature check, 1-metre social distancing even in queues, and encouraging cinema patrons to wear masks. All cinemas will follow the approved SOPs and will not be adding any of their own, so moviegoers can rest assured that they will be following the same SOPs no matter which cinema they go to.

However, not all cinemas will reopen this 1 July, let's take a look below at all the reopening dates for cinemas in Malaysia.

Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC)

Reopening date: 1 July

All GSC locations in Malaysia will open this Wednesday, except for two undisclosed locations. Moviegoers will be happy to know that there will be no increase to the ticket prices.

"Despite the reduction of capacity by 50%, we do not have plans to increase ticket prices. The priority now is the health and safety of our customers and providing assurance to them to return to the cinema with the enhanced SOPs. In fact, we will be launching many innovative value added packages for GSC customers when they return. Movie tickets will be start from as low as RM5," GSC Chief Executive Officer Ms. Koh Mei Lee told Cinema Online.

As shown above, movies to be screened include both new releases as well as reruns of older titles. Cinemas will also operate following new operating hours, though Ms. Koh stated the schedule will be adjusted based on moviegoers' demand.

mmCineplexes

Reopening date: 3 July

"We are reopening on 3rd July 2020 as we want to take some time to practice and run in with our Operations Team on the new safety measures. It is also a Friday which is a good start to the weekend," said Jason Teo, mmCineplexes' Director of Marketing and Business Development, when asked by Cinema Online regarding the slight delay in reopening their cinemas.

mmCineplexes is in the midst of finalising their list of movies to be screened but moviegoers would be happy to know that they are plenty of irresistible offers for them to enjoy, which include:

MBO Cinemas

Reopening date: 1 July (except 4 locations)

MBO Cinemas locations nationwide will resume operations from this Wednesday, except the following four: MBO Cinemas Harbour Place, MBO Cinemas U Mall, MBO Cinemas Space U8 Mall and MBO Cinemas Melaka Mall.

"There are no opening dates set yet for the four locations," Mr. Cheah Chun Wai, MBO Cinemas Chief Operating Officer, told Cinema Online.

Take note that the reopened cinemas will follow the new opening hours stated below.

Tickets will be priced lower for reruns of previously-released titles, which include the Vin Diesel-starring "Bloodshot", Leigh Whannell's "The Invisible Man", horror comedy "Jodoh Syaitan" and animated films "Trolls World Tour" and "Onwards".

Standard pricing will apply to tickets for new releases such as "Kaiji: Final Game", "Low Season", "The Bridge Curse" and more.

TGV Cinemas

Reopening dates: 1 July (30 locations), 9 July (6 locations), 16 July (TGV Cinemas Tasek Central)

30 out of TGV Cinemas' 36 nationwide locations will reopen this week. The remaining 6 locations that will open next week are TGV AEON Bukit Tinggi, TGV AEON Bukit Raja, TGV AEON Cheras Selatan, TGV AEON Kinta City, TGV Encorp Strand and TGV Cheras Sentral.

The slight delay in reopening for these six locations are due to "light upgrade and light repair work," TGV Cinemas Chief Executive Officer Mr. Yeoh Oon Lai told Cinema Online.

Moviegoers are in for a treat when TGV locations reopen as they will be able to enjoy reruns of movies released earlier this year, such as "Bloodshot", "Trolls World Tour", "The Invisible Man" and "Fantasy Island", at just RM8 each. Meanwhile, reruns of 2019 titles that include "Jumanji: The Next Level", "Ip Man 4" and "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" will be priced at RM5 each.

"We will also be reducing the number of sessions," said Mr. Yeoh Oon Lai. "Cleaning in between sessions would normally take 20-25 minutes but during the early phase of reopening, it will take double the amount of time." He stated that this is to ensure that the cinema halls are properly cleaned and sanitised.

More good news, a new location will be opening soon! Johor Bahru residents will soon be able to catch their favourite movies at the new TGV Cinemas Tasek Central, opening this 16 July.

LFS Cinemas

Reopening dates: 2 July (LFS Sandakan), 4 July (LFS Kuala Terengganu), 9 or 10 July (all other locations)

While it was announced on LFS Cinemas' Facebook that its locations will be reopening on 2 July, Garuna Murthee, Managing Director of LFS Cinemas, clarified to Cinema Online that only its branch in Sabah will open on that day. This will be followed by its cinema in Terengganu on Saturday and the rest will open sometime next week.

"Ticket prices will be reduced until blockbusters come in," he added, adding that during the early phase of the reopening, the movies will mostly be reruns of older titles including Tamil-language releases.

Normal ticket pricing will apply once major new movies, such as South Korean zombie horror "Peninsula" on 16 July, start coming in.

Other Cinemas Nationwide

Aside from the abovementioned locations, below are the reopening dates for other cinemas in Malaysia:

1 July 2020

2 July 2020

3 July 2020

9 July 2020

1 August 2020

Emperor Cinemas, Max Cinemas, Boan Cinemas and Jitra Mall Cineplex have yet to set a reopening date, while Megalong Cineplex's reopening was originally scheduled for 1 July but will have to be postponed due to flash flood in Penampang, Sabah.