When cinemas reopen they will not be the same

THE LIGHTS are off in many Florida businesses. But after dark, the glow of the Ocala Drive-In’s 90-foot screen can be seen from a quarter of a mile down the highway. With half the parking spaces in its seven-acre plot fenced off to allow for social distancing, the Ocala has room for 240 vehicles—and it is full every night. “We’re the only thing going right now,” says John Watzke, the owner. Families sit out in deckchairs or perch beneath open tailgates to see a double-bill of “Trolls World Tour” and “Back to the Future” for $6 per adult (under-fives and pets go free). Mr Watzke decided to stay open because of his experience of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when “anything that brought a few minutes of normal lifestyle to us was appreciated.”

For most of America’s nearly 6,000 cinemas, life is far from normal. All but a handful have been shut since March. And although some states have begun to ease the lockdown, it will be months before theatres raise their curtains. A quarter of Americans say they won’t go back to the movies until at least the autumn, so studios are holding their films. No releases are planned for the July 4th weekend, normally a coveted slot. The next big-budget premiere, “Tenet”, an action flick from Warner Bros, is tentatively down for July 17th.

That may be longer than some cinemas can wait. Already...