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When will cinemas reopen in the UK?

Your local picture house is officially allowed to open its doors again

Phil de Semlyen
Written by
Phil de Semlyen
Global film editor
Picturehouse Central
© David Tett Photography
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Update: UK cinemas are officially allowed to open again – with social distancing measures in place, of course. Not all of them have reopened, though. Head here for a full breakdown of which London cinemas are open and when the remainder plan to fire up their projectors again.

Remember going to the cinema? How good was that?! Well, there’s finally a glint of projector light at the end of a very long tunnel for the UK’s cinemas – and for us, the people who love going to them. According to Boris Johnson’s latest speech, May 17 is the date when they will be allowed to reopen their doors.


Step 3 in the government’s freshly announced plan to get the country out of lockdown and back to normality provides for ‘indoor meetings under the rule of six’. This will include cinemas, as well as pubs, restaurants, hotels, theatres, concert halls and sporting stadia – with capacity limits of 50 percent. 

The other unique factor for cinemas, of course, is the supply of films, especially blockbuster releases, to draw cinemagoers back in. Currently, June, with Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and July, with Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, Top Gun Maverick and Uncharted, look the most punter-friendly months. The R-number Hollywood is most interested in is revenue (and the Rock’s phone number, at a push), but those films may be joined by others if the positive news continues.

More news on the UK’s reopening:

When will shops reopen?

When will restaurants reopen?

When will gyms reopen?

When will hairdressers reopen?

When will bars and pubs reopen?

When can I take a day trip?

When can I go on holiday?

When will hotels reopen?

When will campsites reopen?

More on reopening
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