After months of being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, cinemas in Abu Dhabi have been given permission to reopen at limited capacity.
This means that operators must not book more than 30 per cent of available seats. Social distancing will be enforced inside the theatre itself with no adjacent seating, except for members of the same family. Masks will also be mandatory and all used seats will be sanitised between showings.
So, for those who may have missed watching films on the big screen, here's when cinemas in the capital will be reopening.
Vox Cinemas
Status: Open
Locations: Marina Mall, Yas Mall, Nation Towers, Abu Dhabi Mall, The Galleria Al Maryah Island
Films being shown: Ava, Scoob!, Black Water Abyss, Made in Italy, Yom Eh Yom La2 (Lebanese), The Bridge Curse, The Rental, Inception, The High Note
For more, visit www.voxcinemas.com
Cine Royal Cinemas
Status: Opening on Thursday, August 20
Locations: Khalidya Mall, Dalma Mall, Deerfields Mall, Ruwais Mall
Films being shown: TBC
For more, visit cineroyal.ae
Novo Cinemas
Status: TBC. Bawabat Al Sharq Mall has a tentative reopening date for Thursday, August 20
Locations: The Mall at World Trade Centre Abu Dhabi, Bawabat Al Sharq Mall
Films shown: TBC
For more, visit uae.novocinemas.com
Cinemas to reopen in Abu Dhabi malls
Oscar Cinema
Status: TBC. Al Wahda Mall has a tentative reopening date of Thursday, August 20
Location: Al Wahda Mall, Al Raha Mall
Films shown: TBC
For more, visit www.oscarcinema.ae
Five films to watch
Now that most cinemas have reopened around the UAE, here are five films to be released in the next couple of months to get excited about:
'Peninsula'
Release date: Thursday, August 20
The Korean film is a standalone sequel to 2016's Train to Busan, meaning that the movie doesn't have much connection to the original except for being set in the same zombie-filled universe. The film follows a marine captain, who is tasked with returning to a quarantined area and retrieving bags of cash left in an abandoned food truck while trying to survive.
'Tenet'
Release date: Thursday, August 27
An action epic with a time-travel twist, Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated release tells the story of a spy only known as the Protagonist who is given the task of preventing a renegade Russian businessman from starting World War Three.
'A Quiet Place Part II'
Release date: Thursday, September 3
Emily Blunt and child stars Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe reprise their roles in this sequel to John Krasinski’s 2018 hit film about a world destroyed by aliens with hypersensitive hearing. The film picks up right after the first and follows the Abbott family as they continue to fight for survival in silence.
'Mulan'
Release date: Friday, September 4
Disney continues its live-action remakes with 1998's Mulan. Starring Liu Yifei, the story follows a young girl who pretends to be a boy in order to take the spot of her ailing father in the Chinese military, fighting to stop an invasion.
'Wonder Woman 1984'
Release date: Thursday, October 1
Gal Gadot returns as the lasso-spinning superhero in the sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman. The film puts Wonder Woman in the height of the Cold War, where she takes on media businessman Maxwell Lord and friend-turned-enemy The Cheetah.
