Movie theaters “are back” ahead of “The Batman” Premiere

EL PASO, Texas --  Ahead of the highly anticipated premiere of “The Batman” movie theaters in the borderland are gearing up for a packed house this weekend.

A full theater, long concessions, and box office lines were familiar sights to see prior to the emergence of COVID 19. Since 2020 movie theaters have been hit heavy with most premieres being streamed from home.

Flix Brewhouse opened in El Paso September of 2019 but because of COVID had to shut down three separate times. Their last time being almost a year.

"You know when we reopened in 2021 I, I feel people were ready to come back and with just the volume of people who came out for “Spiderman” the industry is back," said Victor Lopstain General Manager of Flix.

“This weekend we'll do close to three thousand admins just for batman just for the first weekend.” Lopstain said.

Alamo Draft House also felt the absence of guests due to movie streaming platforms

"We were operating at 50% capacity we weren't able to see as many guests as we were seeing previously a lot of the films going straight to streaming obviously you know if you can watch it at home guests aren't gonna come and enjoy it at the theater." said Aracely Calzadas, Events Coordinator for Alamo Drafthouse.

"I think were looking forward to a really successful busy blockbuster summer". said Calzadas

For packed theaters Flix installed ionizers and MERV 13 filters in their HVAC system.

“Which is capturing a lot of particles viruses’ bacteria and keeping our guests and our team members with clean air, allergies the works covers the whole spectrum” said Lopstain

Alamo Drafthouse and Flix Brewhouse are both following CDC guidelines. Their team will continue to mask up to make guests feel comfortable.

“As long as we're taking care of the guests the guests will continue to come back and from here on out the slate the movie slate looks strong for the industry.” Lopstain said

Movie goers I spoke with say they are ready to be back at the theaters.

“We're pretty excited we actually just bought the season pass that you can come and watch a movie everyday so were really excited about just coming back to the theaters” said Miros Lava Ruiz.

"It’s great just fun to get out of the house finally again" Jessie Gandarilla said