Fandango movie app offers a guide to social distancing as movie theaters reopen

As movie theaters begin to reopen across the United States as coronavirus restrictions are lifted, Fandango has introduced new resources promoting safety for moviegoers.

The popular website and app is aiming to help people return to theaters “with confidence and peace of mind” with features it began rolling out Tuesday, it said in a press release.

Fandango will provide social distance seating maps and occupancy for theaters, safety policies of theaters throughout the U.S., a search filter to see which cinemas have reopened and information about special concession services, it announced Tuesday.

“It’s a complicated rollout, with various states, cities and counties opening their venues in different phases,” Fandango President Paul Yanover said. “We hope Fandango will serve as a helpful one-stop resource for fans to find all the information and services they need for a comfortable return to their local theaters.”

Safety information Fandango will provide includes mask and protective equipment policies and cleaning measures at theaters.

Fandango also hopes its mobile ticketing service can provide moviegoers another opportunity to avoid contact points.

There are nearly 900 venues open showing movies across the country, 217 of which are drive-in locations, according to Variety.

Most indoor movie theaters have been closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Major chains are planning to re-open in July.

Some of the summer’s major new releases, including “Mulan” and “Tenet” will come to theaters next month.

AMC and Regal each announced last week moviegoers must wear masks at their theaters. Cinemark will leave it up to customers, but employees will be required to wear masks, the Associated Press reported.

Not all experts are in agreement on the safety of movie theaters. Because patrons are “just passively breathing and wearing masks” while facing the same direction, theaters may be safer than bars, Jade Flinn, a faculty member at Johns Hopkins Medicine who trains nurses at its biocontainment unit, told Quartz.

But you won’t catch Dr. Diana Cervantes, an expert in infection prevention and control who is an assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, at the theater anytime soon.

“When you think of what aids transmission, it is going to be the type of contact you have with the person who’s infected, the length of time, proximity — all of those factors come into play,” Cervantes told the New York Times, according to McClatchy News. “The amount of time starts to be a little too prolonged for me to be sitting there with a bunch of strangers.”