Judge declines to force New Jersey to reopen movie theaters

Movie theaters won't be able to reopen in New Jersey just yet.

A judge on Tuesday upheld New Jersey's order requiring movie theaters to stay closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, report Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas, which closed their locations across the United States in March due to the coronavirus crisis, last month filed a lawsuit against New Jersey's governor for not yet allowing them to reopen. They argued that they should be able to reopen the same way churches have and that the state was making "unconstitutional and unlawful distinctions" in violation of their First Amendment rights.

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But Judge Brian Martinotti on Tuesday declined to issue an injunction that would let the theaters reopen, deciding that New Jersey is simply "promoting the significant governmental interest of protecting public health by keeping closed areas that present heightened risks for COVID-19 transmission."

This decision comes just days before both AMC and Regal are scheduled to begin reopening their theaters in areas of the U.S. where they're allowed to do so ahead of the planned September limited release of the new Christopher Nolan movie Tenet.

But in some states like New York and New Jersey, there's still no green light to reopen. Earlier this week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said a movie theater "poses a high risk" and that they're "not that high on the list of essentials." And New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D), asked recently about when theaters might be able to reopen, said, "I honestly don't know. That is complicated."