Joe Masher Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterMovie theaters in a handful of cities around the country will soon be checking for proof of vaccination — creating one more obstacle to the full return of moviegoing.In New York, the requirement goes into effect on Tuesday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Not this again. After the two years of havoc that COVID inflicted on their business, movie theater owners thought they were past the days of blank marquees. Studios, miraculously, have been releasing films at a regular rate.

New York exhibitors had their hopes dashed Monday as Gov. Andrew Cuomo made no move at a press conferences to boost capacity at movie theaters in the five boroughs from 25% to a hoped-for 50%.

Joe Masher, the COO of midsize exhibitor Bow Tie Cinemas, says he noticed that families from New York City — where movie theaters were closed for nearly a year, until March 5 — had been flocking to the circuit’s locations in Connecticut and New Jersey that were able to reopen in recent months amid the pandemic. “It’s amazing how many people were coming from the city,” says Masher, who is in charge of the New York chapter of the National Association of Theatre Owners.