There has been plenty of talk recently on whether cinemas in the United States will be opening soon. In a recent interview with Kevin McCarthy, the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony, the directors of Avengers: Endgame, talked about whether they think cinemas should reopen soon.
The duo, who have delivered some of the best MCU movies to date, think that opening cinemas by the end of July might not be practical. Joe Russo said:
“I think everyone has a different threshold for risk, it seems, in the country right now. I think that really depends what your threshold for risk is, but certainly being in an enclosed space is a high-risk situation. So there’s the question of whether we want that to happen, which we do, but whether that’s practical and safe and whether we can recommend it, which I don’t think we could. Just from the way that I’m approaching the pandemic with my family is we’re very conservative about it.”
“Look, if you go back and look at the Spanish flu, it was a two or three-year period. I think with technology and modern science, we maybe can compress that timeframe, but it’s going to be a year or two until things, I think, turn back to normal.”
Anthony Russo admitted that he’s desperate for the theatrical experience. However, even he conceded that he will not be stepping into a theatre for the foreseeable future.
“But I do think, at the end of the day, where are you gonna put the risk? I think there are more immediate places to put the risk in terms of human connection than a theater full of strangers, unfortunately. It’s a very personal question, and it depends on people’s individual circumstances, but unfortunately, I don’t see myself getting into a theater in the foreseeable future.”
The Russo Brothers sound incredibly pragmatic. The United States currently has had 2.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 126 000 deaths, thus far, and the number is only growing every day. While nobody wants businesses to go under, opening the doors to cinemas without flattening the curve, could very well be a recipe for disaster.
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