Dave & Dujanovic: Back to the movies? Dave’s a go, Debbie’s a no

SALT LAKE CITY — Are you ready to go back to the movies?

Debbie said she has been hanging back on going back to the movies, but Dave is “Mr. Movie.” He hasn’t stopping going back to the movies since the pandemic started.

“I kind of love having the theater all by myself,” he said, adding he hasn’t gone to a movie recently due to a lack of blockbusters.

In 2020, Debbie said, 329 movies were released in the US and Canada, compared to 792 in 2019.

Is it safe to go back to the movies?

Blake Andersen, who is president of Larry H. Miller Megaplex Theatres,  joined Debbie Dujanovic and Dave Noriega to talk about the state of the movies in Utah and across the country.

Debbie noted the coronavirus transmission level has dropped from high to moderate in Salt Lake County. Now that some restrictions have been adjusted, is it safe to go back to the movies?

“So if I show up at the movie theater with a ticket purchased online, do I have to sit next to the person next to me, or do you give me some space there?” she asked.

“When you buy a ticket, Debbie, if you buy a ticket with your family or group of tickets, we will block out a private area around you in the auditorium. That will ensure that you’re not sitting next to anyone. And we also only fill our auditorium to a maximum capacity of 50 percent,” Andersen said.

He added the Megaplex Theatres follow all state and county guidelines, and also the National Association of Theater Owners guidelines.

Are the big movies coming soon?

“Will you continue to require masks, even as the state rolls back the mask mandate on April 10?” asked Debbie.

“We require masks now in all of our theatres . . . and masks are worn throughout the entire movie unless you’re consuming food or beverage, and then we allow a break for that, but other than that we do require masks,” Andersen said.

Dave said he curtailed his visits to movie theaters because the release of new movies has been held up.

“Do we expect a big influx of new exciting movies?” he asked.

“We do. I think one thing that you will see, Dave, rather than just have big holiday openings in this next year, year and a half, you’re almost going to have weekly blockbusters because the pipeline is backed up,” Andersen said, “. . . and you’ll see these coming out of the gate now much more frequently, and as we get into summer, they’ll really start to come out.”

Dave said he and his family are ready to go back to the movies.

“We’re just waiting for the right movies to show up. We’re huge movie-goers. We go all the time. So as soon as a movie worth seeing is out, we’re there,” he said.

Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.