New 'Social Distancing' Cinema Looks Like Star Wars Galactic Senate

Star Wars aficionados, this news is for you!

An upcoming futuristic movie theater introduced by a French company will transport you right into the Star War's Galactic Senate.

Paris's Oma Cinema's innovative concept features circular pods positioned on top of each other. The design is meant to offer the ultimate cinema experience regardless of where you choose to sit.

Each pod contains only a limited number of seats perfect for social distancing, and now people are eyeing it as a possible solution in implementing Covid-19 safety guidelines in theaters.

Despite being inspired primarily for functionality, Star Wars fans are quick to notice that the design greatly resembles the Galactic Senate from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The Galactic Senate first appeared in The Phantom Menace and has since been a huge part of the epic space-opera.

The concept is officially introduced as "a new era of movie theater."

In the company's official website, OMA Cinema architect, founder, and CEO Pierre Chican wrote:

"Whereas all the cinemas built for more than 50 years now are similar and reproduce the same seating arrangement of the audience, this concept of a movie theatre creates a cinematographic experience at the same time intimate, spectacular and immersive, where every seat in the house is the best seat in the house."

Pierre has been specializing in developing cultural arenas and, more particularly, cinemas for more than two decades now. He designed two of the most successful cinema theaters in Europe: the UGC Les Halles and UGC Berc.

Needless to say, Star Wars fans are thrilled upon seeing the concept photos. One user tweeted: "hell yeah, now we can watch movies and pretend we're in the galactic senate!!!!"

While another one said: "This is perfect for me because whenever I watch any movie, I like to pretend I'm a member of the Galactic Senate."

Another user who also can't see past the resemblance tweeted: "Oh to be a 3D rendered person in a movie theater designed like the Senate room from Star Wars watching Tron Legacy."

Oma's jaw-dropping plan does not end there, though. It also offers highly personalized services, including 'VIP-Corporate hospitality boxes, table service on all or selected platforms, and exclusive VIP access to lounge and bar.'

Indeed, this futuristic concept is a breakthrough in the cinema industry. For years, big theater chains, including North American giants like AMC and Cinemark, have been very competitive when it comes to introducing new technology and innovation.

However, none of these companies have introduced this lavish seating arrangement or has done something yet to address the new issues that arose during the pandemic.

The movie industry has been severely affected by the Covid-19 crises, and a lot of movie houses worldwide have shut down following government initiated lockdown.

Currently, people around the US and the UK are turning into drive-in theaters to enjoy movies in the comfort of their cars. The pandemic is indeed an urgent call for theater companies to come up with effective adaptive measures for the 'new normal'. Oma's design might just be the solution we're looking for.