Coming Soon

CELINA - The silver screen will light up once again as UEC Celina Cinema reopens its doors on Friday.

"I think there's a lot of people in town who are excited for this to be back just so they can have a little bit (of) semblance of normalcy back to their lives and they don't have to worry," said general manager Joshua Pierstorff.

The theater has been closed since Gov. Mike DeWine's COVID-19 shutdown order in March, aside for a few weeks when it was exclusively selling popcorn, Pierstorff said.

Now that studios are starting slowly to release new titles, the theater will resume showing films this weekend with numerous safety protocols and mandates in place, he added, stressing safety of employees and patrons is the top priority.

Beginning Friday, the theater will show four films - the new psychological thriller "Unhinged," featuring Russell Crowe, and three other films that had been released previously.

The other movies are a 10th anniversary showing of "Inception," the original "Jurassic Park" and "Trolls World Tour."

"I'm really excited to see that up on the big screen," Pierstorff enthused about "Jurassic Park."

"Trolls World Tour" was, for the most part, a direct-to-video release because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he pointed out.

"That will be nice to have that actually in theaters since it never was in theaters before and it will be a nice one for all the kids to be able to see," he said.

Until more new feature films are released, the theater will rely on what Pierstorff calls catalog or legacy movies to make up the difference.

"It's going to be like one new movie a week for a little while," he noted, saying new features "Tenet," "The New Mutants" and "Wonder Woman 1984" are expected to come down the pike in the coming weeks.

Potential legacy films to be shown include "The Goonies" and "Back to the Future."

"Some movies need to be seen on the big screen," he said about the thrill of watching a classic on the medium for which it was intended.

Staff have implemented a host of safety measures and directives. Seating in each of the five theaters will be limited to 50% or less of capacity. To ensure proper social distancing, patrons will be asked to sit at least three seats away from others, Pierstorff said.

Social-distancing reminders are placed in the lobby, cleaning products will be applied to theaters frequently and hand sanitizers will be made available. Sneeze guards have been set up at counters where employees interact with customers.

Employees will be health screened each day before their shifts. They also must wear masks.

Guests too must wear masks while in the lobby, restrooms and hallways. They can remove them inside the theater while eating and drinking, according to a UEC news release.

"We are closely following the Centers for Disease Control's guidelines and recommendations on the steps we can take to help prevent the spread of the virus," the release states.

Pierstorff said he's anxious to see the big screen come to life once again. A film buff, Pierstorff worked his way from concession worker in 2009 to assistant manager in 2015. He took a few years off before returning as general manager in September 2018, when United Entertainment Corp. had purchased Chakeres Theatres Celina Cinema 5.

"I love this job," he said, wistfully looking back on the days when he handled actual film before the theater converted to digital projection.