Matthew McConaughey Declares "The Big Screen Is Back" In Moviegoing PSA

Movie theaters are back, baby. And it's all right, all right, all right. Matthew McConaughey emerged with an incredible quarantine haircut to star in a moviegoing PSA from NATO and the MPAA, welcoming audiences back to theaters. Watch McConaughey — with the help of clips from Shang-Chi, Free Guy, F9, Dune, and Death on the Nile — encourage movie fans to head back to theaters in the "Big Screen is Back" PSA below.

After more than a year of being closed down due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, movie theaters are back in business. And they couldn't do it without the help of average, everyday theater workers, who get the spotlight in the moviegoing PSA from the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

With the help of "leading entertainment executives," NATO and the MPAA are launching a campaign called The Big Screen Is Back, which will help support the return of moviegoing this summer. The Big Screen Is Back "also serves as a reminder of the hundreds of thousands of workers (union members, below-the-line, etc.) who rely on the theatrical marketplace for their income."

The Big Screen is Back PSA aired on the pre-Oscars telecast Sunday night, with a video filmed under COVID-safe protocols. Oscar winner McConaughey was there to introduce the campaign and spotlight the workers, as well as the toll the pandemic has taken on the movie theater business.

"Movie theaters, they employ over 150K Americans. They are the unsung heroes who bring movie magic to the big screen. It's been a very hard year for them: Furloughs, closures, basically the longest intermission that they could have ever imagined. Thanks to their dedication and resilience, theaters are coming back," McConaughey said in the PSA.

This summer is looking to be the big return to theaters since the pandemic shut down the world last March. Theaters have been slowly re-opening in the past few months. Major movie markets New York City and Los Angeles are expanding operations, while vaccine rollout has been forging ahead steadily — eligibility has now expanded to include all Americans. Godzilla vs. Kong smashed pandemic box office records recently, and much of its success is credited to the reopening of the major movie markets of Los Angeles and New York. Studios are already setting their releases for theaters this summer without fear of major box office losses.