Cineworld Group has said it is “optimistic” that it will be able to open towards the second half of June, while AMC Theaters has suggested there could be a “partial re-opening in July”.
The easing of lockdown measures as well as positive results from a coronavirus drug trial boosted stock markets on Friday.
Shares in US biotech firm Gilead jumped after leaked reports from a clinical trial of its drug remdesivir showed positive results in treating coronavirus patients with severe symptoms.
Reports of the drug’s successes helped fuel a global rally, with European stocks set to end the week higher after several rocky sessions.
“Investors appear to be leaning on the encouraging news [about remdesivir],” said Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid.
Despite a broad recovery in share prices over the past fortnight, analysts have said the development of an effective treatment for Covid-19 will be a crucial catalyst for recovery.
Better-than-expected industrial data out of China also offered a silver lining to the country’s first quarterly contraction on record.
“There will no doubt be cautionary announcements by various scientific bodies about the validity of a partial set of results from a tiny trial,” said Jeffrey Haley at Oanda.
“Markets though will likely do their very best to ignore those, preferring to concentrate on the US Presidential lockdown exit protocols, and of course, a potential treatment for Covid-19 symptoms.”