City Center’s Grand Cinecentre has reopened, but will not feature any new releases until next week due to “scheduling problems,” local media reports.

The 14-screen cinema opened last night, three days after Qatar gave the mall the green light to reopen most of its stores, the Peninsula reports.

But because of its long closure, new listings were not immediately available to show.

“It will take a while before the movie schedules get back on track,” a theater employee told the newspaper.

City Center was closed for nearly four weeks to improve emergency preparedness after a deadly fire at Villaggio mall.

The majority of shops are now up and running, and some safety improvements have been made, including the creation of wider aisles in some stores, the removal of kiosks cluttering up mall hallways and the installation of more emergency exits.

But City Center still has some work to do – Fun City, the children’s entertainment area, remains closed, and the mall must finish shoring up its safety protocol according to a timetable set by Civil Defense.

Still, the reopening of the cinema is likely to come as a big relief to those missing Villaggio’s many theaters.

Of course, Dark Knight Rises fans shouldn’t get their hopes up – despite its July 20 international release, the much-awaited Batman finale is not playing here – or likely anywhere in the Gulf – until after Ramadan.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo courtesy of City Center’s Facebook page