Major movie-theater chains like AMC and Regal are reopening this week, but a new survey suggests only a small fraction of US consumers are ready to return

• Major theater chains like AMC Theatres and Regal are set to reopen in the US this week.
• But a new Morning Consult survey, which polled 2,200 US adults, found that only 17% said they'd be comfortable returning to a movie theater immediately.
• Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said they would feel comfortable going to a movie theater only within the next six months or longer.
• Warner Bros.' "Tenet," scheduled to open in select US cities on September 3, is billed as the first major test to see whether audiences will return to theaters for a blockbuster movie.

Major theater chains like AMC Theatres and Regal are planning to open their doors in the US this week after five months with the lights off during the coronavirus pandemic. But most US consumers seem unlikely to return quickly.

AMC says it will open 100 US locations on Thursday, with Regal planning to reopen its theaters on Friday, with health-related safety protocols in place such as limited seating capacity and requirements that guests wear masks when not eating or drinking.

But not even safety guidelines or 15-cent tickets — which AMC is offering on opening day — may be enough to drive audiences back to the movies amid coronavirus concerns, a new Morning Consult survey suggests.

In its latest survey on US adults' comfort level with certain activities, conducted Friday to Monday, Morning Consult found that most respondents were more comfortable with other activities like going out to eat or going to a shopping mall. Morning Consult surveyed 2,200 US adults, and just 17% said they would be comfortable going to the movies immediately, a dip from about 20% earlier this month.

Twenty-two percent of the 565 millennial respondents said they were comfortable returning to movie theaters right away, a decrease from nearly 30% a couple of weeks ago. Thirteen percent of the 750 baby-boomer respondents said the same.

Movie theaters' prospects for the remainder of the year look bleak. Fifty-one percent of the total respondents said they would feel comfortable going to a movie theater only within six months or more. Twenty-five percent said they would be comfortable going within two weeks to three months. The remaining 24% weren't sure or had no opinion.

After being pushed back multiple times, the Warner Bros. film "Tenet," directed by Christopher Nolan, is scheduled for release in select US cities on over Labor Day weekend on September 3 (after an international debut on August 26).

Other movies, including the long-delayed "X-Men" spinoff "New Mutants," are set for release before that, but "Tenet" is widely viewed as the first major test of whether audiences are willing to return to theaters for a hotly anticipated blockbuster.

Disney decided not to take that risk with "Mulan." Earlier this month, the company announced that the live-action remake would debut on its streaming service, Disney Plus, for an additional $30 fee, at which point audiences will always have access to the movie as long as they have a Disney Plus subscription.