Following an interruption of nearly 18 months due to the ongoing pandemic, cinemas in Pakistan are finally gearing up to open their venues to audiences eager on catching their favorite blockbusters on the big screen.
Closure in 2020
Movie theaters were last open in mid-March last year when Sakina Samo’s as yet unreleased venture “Intezar” was set to grace the silver screen. An announcement by the federal government had then led to the closure of theatrical venues across the nation, a move that saw release dates of practically all Pakistani films being postponed. While some screening venues had briefly opened in August last year, their operations were thwarted by the rising toll of the pandemic.
Cinemas set to be back in business
As things stand now, the government has finally greenlit the opening of the film exhibition circuit in phases. On September 30, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry announced that cinemas in Gilgit, Skardu, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Quetta, and Peshawar would be operational from October 1. And now it has emerged that theaters are opening Nationwide along with the country’s largest metropolis Karachi have also been signaled to be open up starting tomorrow, October 22, and we can confirm that ME Cinemas’ Atrium theater will be opening its doors.
Movies to watch
All of this is of course great news for movie connoisseurs who just cannot wait to get their next big-screen fill. The cherry on top is the especially high-quality slate of Hollywood projects set to be screened. We are talking about films like “Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage”, “Conjuring 3”, and Dennis Villeneuve’s long-awaited sci-fi epic “Dune”, which will be released in the North American market on the same day. Also running will be “Jungle Cruise 3D” and “Malignant”, amongst others.
That being said, it seems theater operations are yet to resume fully as Cinepax, the country’s largest chain, is yet to announce its plans for re-opening. With increasing vaccination rates across the nation’s cities, it is increasingly likely that more sites will open up in the coming weeks.
Well, all we can say is that we cannot wait to check out the latest blockbusters on show! Let us know what movies you are looking forward to watching in the comments below.
