Yesterday Disney’s CEO said he did not expect masks and social distancing to be necessary inside the theme parks by 2022, and if we can get through theme parks without those restrictions, movie theaters will likely be in a very similar place.
So in the eyes of HBO Max, any possibility of the current plan continuing into 2022 would depend on whether the pandemic situation made such a thing necessary.
With vaccines being distributed, it’s impossible to know for sure what that situation will look like a year from now, but it seems that things are on the upswing and theaters will likely be in a much better place 12 months from now.