Movie theaters have been graded "high-risk" as part of a new coronavirus recovery guideline released Monday.
Cinemas in the U.K. will not open before July 4.
This was the date laid out Monday as part of the government's new COVID-19 recovery guideline, a 50-page document titled "Our Plan to Rebuild."
Movie theaters, which have been shut since the week of March 23, were listed among the "high-risk" group of businesses alongside other leisure facilities, hospitality venues such as pubs and restaurants, places of worship and personal care businesses such as hairdressers. These will be the last to reopen, no earlier than July 4, the government said. But even then they will need to meet strict COVID-19 guidelines.
"Some venues which are, by design, crowded and where it may prove difficult to enact distancing may still not be able to re-open safely at this point, or may be able to open safely only in part," the plan stated.
"Nevertheless, the government will wish to open as many businesses and public places as the data and information at the time allows."
Some cinemas had touted the end of June as a possible opening date, with the chain Vue among these suggesting a soft opening. Christopher Nolan's Tenet, which currently has a release date with Warner Bros. of July 17, is being seen many in the industry as the major blockbuster that can draw audiences back to theaters.
