The Movement Control Order (MCO) in Selangor, Johor, and Penang along with Kuala Lumpur will be ending this Friday (March 5), as announced by Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Tuesday (March 2).
With this good news, cinemas in Malaysia can breathe a sigh of relief as they can now finally open their doors for moviegoers after staying closed since January when the MCO was enforced.
The cinema industry recently pushed for the opening of cinemas with the #reopencinemas campaign on social media as part of efforts to get the government to lift restrictions on their operations. Most of the cinemas in Malaysia participated by using the hashtag in nearly all of their social media postings as cinemas continued suffering losses.
Malaysian Association of Film Exhibitors (MAFE) said the closure of cinemas has resulted in industry players losing up to 90% of revenue year-on-year and racking up over half a billion ringgit in losses for 2020 alone. Now with the MCO over, cinemas can resume their operations albeit adhering to strict SOPs set by the authorities.
In a statement sighted on the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) Facebook page, the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) said cinemas will continue to be subject to all the standard operating procedures set by the National Security Council (MKN) under conditional MCO and recovery MCO.
So if you’ve been longing to watch a movie munching on delicious popcorn, get ready to book for your favourite movie this Friday!
