50,000m2 of surface, 23 rooms, 7,000 seats and nearly 2 million visitors per year. The Kinépolis de Lomme, located a few kilometers from Lille, is a real cinema juggernaut. The largest complex in France, the second in the country in terms of attendance behind the UGC des Halles de Paris, is preparing to reopen its doors this Monday June 22 after three months of closure linked to confinement.
“It was a very strange time. I was the only one who returned to the resort every week to make sure everything was fine. But to see this large building completely empty and turned off when it is teeming with people in normal times was very strange, ”recognizes Franck Barrières, the director of Kinépolis de Lomme.
New health standards
If he recognizes that this closure has necessarily had an economic impact, the boss does not prefer to give figures. The Kinépolis and its 90 employees, all put on partial unemployment during confinement, are ready to return to work under necessarily different conditions but without apprehension. “We are fortunate to have a very large building that allows incoming and outgoing flows not to cross. This makes it easy to adapt health measures, ”assures Franck Barrières.
Hydroalcoholic gels will be available throughout the cinema. Wearing a mask will be highly recommended and even compulsory in the confectionery department. Another important change: the reservation system now adapted to the health protocol. "Automatically, when you reserve seats alone, as a couple or as a family, the seats on the left and right will be automatically blocked," explains the director of Kinépolis.
A gradual reopening
As of Monday, 10 of the 23 rooms in the complex will reopen before a return to normal scheduled for July 14. Before the arrival of blockbusters in the summer, the programming will resume slowly this Monday with six new releases on display as well as films like "De Gaulle" cut in full confinement without forgetting recent classics like the Grand Bain or older like Back to the future.
Remains an unknown: will the public be there? Deprived of movie theaters for three months, many French people have turned to Netflix-type streaming platforms. Real competition that does not worry Kinépolis, however.
An audience impatient to find the dark rooms?
“Throughout the confinement period, we stayed in touch with our customers via social media. They all told us that they were impatient to be able to find the dark rooms. Even if they watched movies on TV or streaming, it also showed them that the experience of projection on a very large screen in a cinema dark room is something different from what you can see. at home from his sofa. We don't see the film at all in the same way, ”says Frank Barrières. A strong argument to bring the public back and revive an industry strongly affected by containment.
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- Deconfinement
- Culture
- Movie theater
- Cinema
- Lille