With two weekends under its belt now, the reopening of the Cochrane Movie House has been a success.

Owner, Hal Wolf says it is (almost) like the good 'ole pre-pandemic days.

"It was nice to get right back to kind of where we were and to see all of the regular Cochranites coming out," says Wolf.  "All in all, I think that our first opening weekend after being closed for six months straight was very good and very promising."

The Movie House is currently operating under Stage 2 restrictions. Wolf says that a 30 per cent capacity means they can seat between 25 and 30 people in each auditorium for now.

He says that like many Albertans he was thrilled to hear the Premier's announcement on Friday (June 18) and he is counting down the days for the move to Stage 3.

"Oh I couldn't be happier with that announcement," says Wolf. "Kenney says that there isn't a Plan B because we're just going to be open. that's even better, it's even more promising. There's definitely progress; and forward progress is very good."

As the province prepares to move to Stage 3 on July 1, Wolf is excited to truly return to business as usual. He says that after more than a year of pressing pause on new movie releases, Cochranites can look forward to an exciting summer movie lineup.

"Right now, we opened up 'The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard,' we're also playing 'Peter Rabbit 2,' we are playing 'Cruella' and 'A Quiet Place 2.'

Wolf adds that  Disney's 'Black Widow' is opening on On July 9. He says it's the biggest blockbuster film to kick off the rest of the summer and it is conveniently being released after the province enters Stage 3.