most California movie theaters remaining closed despite given go-ahead to reopen on Friday

States across the U.S. are beginning to reopen after months of coronavirus lockdown and this Friday, June 12, California will begin allowing bars, movie theaters, bowling alleys, miniature golf, batting cages and arcades to open their doors again. But Deadline reports that despite being given the go-ahead, most major movie chains will not reopen in California on Friday, including AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Alamo Drafthouse, ArcLight and more.

Reasons for not opening yet include a lack of big marquee titles -- like Christopher Nolan's anticipated new film Tenet, which doesn't open till July 17 -- and the need to clean, restock, and order new safety supplies (facemasks, seat covers, sanitizer, etc) before opening. Most crucially, Deadline notes, maybe be that California will limit the number of attendees in a theater to 25% or 100, whichever is fewer -- which is not financially viable for many theaters

Opening looks to be sooner than later, though. “The significance of the California opening date and guidelines is that it gives confidence that within a couple of weeks we will likely be allowed 50% and lets Warner Bros proceed with marketing Tenet,“ one theater executive told Deadline.

In New York, NYC just began Phase One of reopening, which includes construction, manufacturing and previously "nonessential" retail (with curbside pickup). Most of the rest of the state is on Phase Two, which still does not include movie theaters, gyms, malls or "places of amusement" like theme parks and zoos. Deadline reported yesterday that it "might be several more weeks before the doors are truly open on cinemas" in New York.

Meanwhile, drive-in theaters are on the rise and even Greenpoint, Brooklyn is getting one (no opening date yet).

In the meantime, we have recommendations of punk and Britop/alt-rock documentaries you can stream right now, and a look at HBO Max's many music-related offerenings.

You can also get excited for Tenet -- which stars John David Washington and Robert Pattinson and involves "time inversion" -- and watch the trailer below.

In other news, don't look for the live music to bounce back quite as quick.