Hello, and welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s culture news roundup. Today we have some updates on a new HBO series, Sia singles, and the future of the theatergoing experience. Let’s go.
Soon, Going to the Movies Could Feel Like Going to the Airport
If you’ve been reading WIRED, then you might have seen that states like Texas are lifting coronavirus-necessitated stay-at-home orders and allowing certain businesses to reopen. In some cases, those businesses include movie theaters. According to a report in Variety, a few film houses in Austin and San Antonio have been among the first to open their doors—but what people found on the other side may not have been what they were expecting.
In order to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection, EVO Entertainment and Santikos Entertainment are implementing a host of safety measures aimed at protecting their employees and patrons. EVO, which is opening two theaters today, will have what CEO Mitchell Roberts calls “airport-security-style check-ins,” where patrons will be given an infrared temperature screening and asked if anyone in their household has had symptoms in the last two weeks. On Saturday, Santikos opened three locations, where CEO Tim Handren says things will run like a “finely tuned machine with all the protocols that are require