If there’s one question that’s going to define the fate of the next several months of human existence (or lack thereof), it’s the one of when our government/corporate overlords are going to decide it’s finally time to crack open the protective shells of our various self- and state-imposed quarantines so that they can feast on the sweet, sweet economy meat hidden within. Nowhere is that query more pertinent than in the movie theater industry, an entire billions-dollar business built around people sitting in dark rooms in close contact with each other, stuffing popcorn in their mouths, breathing each other’s lung-recycled gasses, and just generally enjoying the close proximity of a whole bunch of other people’s viral loads.
So alluring is that image that the Cinemark theater chain has expressed its tentative plans to re-open for business in almost exactly two-and-a-half months. This is per Slashfilm, reporting on a conference call held this week by Cinemark CFO and COO Sean Gamble, who stated that the chain is aiming at July 1 as a tentative date to re-open doors for at least some of its theaters. As with theaters in China—which programmed beloved feel-good movies like the Harry Potter films in order to lure viewers back into their waiting, tomb-like arms—Cinemark will reportedly begin showing “library product” on those dates in some states, operating on a region-by-region basis to determine which facilities will open when. All of those early releases will build up to the tentative release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet on July 17, a movie that has the double theatrical draw of being the latest, very mysterious project from a critically and commercially beloved director, and also, y’know, existing.
Whether this plan is actually safe is, of course, just one of the delightful uncertainties that have cropped up like a lethal and unwelcome fungus in the COVID-19 era. Projections of when the U.S. can start relaxing its social distancing measures without causing a resurgence in infections have been all over the place, with the only real comfort being the near-certain knowledge that whatever date Donald Trump ends up proposing for a start-up will almost certainly be dangerously and disastrously wrong. Theaters are going to be both an excellent bellwether for how much faith the American public has in the crisis being past, as well as—more grimly—an easy locale to track to see if it actually is. Anyway: We’ll know more about all of this in the future, presumably, because that’s how time worked, back when time was still a thing that meaningfully existed.
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Extreme digital cinema is awesome. You’ll never get just how extreme it is until you go there for yourself. Before you even get into the building, you’ll be pulling up into the:After you make it inside, you’ll find the concession booth selling:Once you take your seat, you’ll notice that the only movie playing is Commando, on 12 screens, on every wall. You will, in fact, sprout a pair of testicles out of your chest afterwards.
Cinemas were on their way out before the lockdown, I can’t imagine what will happen to them now, especially if they bring them back too soon.
No they weren’t. There will always be an audience for theater viewing; no matter how big HD screens get, the experience is impossible to replicate at home (unless you’re rich and can build one of those private screening rooms).
They said TV was going to kill it; they said the VCR was going to kill it…it’s survived decades of competition. It will survive a pandemic too.
the experience is impossible to replicate at home In my experience, it was the “theatre-going experience” with all of the late arrivals, expensive snacks, seatkickers, talkers, coughers, popcorn munchers and iphone addicts which turned people off cinemas in the first place.
I love going to the theaters but I hate when people loudly whisper what’s going on in the movie as if they can’t follow the plot unless they hear themselves talk.
I have to ask: where do you live? I hear this complaint all the time, but in all my years (and I’m not the youngest cat) and in all the places I’ve lived (at least one state in every time zone) I have never experienced these things that people say happen all the time.
TV and the VCR may not have killed it, but aside from the occasional blockbuster, the average movie theater is a friggin’ morgue. It’s weird and alienating to be nearly the only person in the theater. When the floor is sticky and your ticket cost $15 or more, that’s even worse. What’s the upper limit for a ticket price that you’re willing to pay—$25? $30? Because that seems to be the only strategy they have: compensate for fewer ticket-buyers by raising prices, which makes more people stay home, which makes them raise prices. The industry has been tenacious, but things are not trending in the right direction. They need a new business model and a new way to get people into theaters aside from just hyping the latest Marvel movies. It’s a lot more fun to watch a movie in a crowded theater, but the way things are right now, not enough tickets are being sold.
Counterpoint, making out in an empty (or almost empty) theater will always be fun.
Boogie would agree.
The industry has been tenacious, but things are not trending in the right direction.Tell that to Marvel.
On the other hand they said the high quality of FM Radio was going to kill the music store. It didn’t. They said cassette decks that could record were going to kill the music store. It didn’t. They said satellite radio was going to kill the music store. It didn’t. They said MP3s and eventually streaming audio would kill the music store. It…did, more or less. Surviving a series of challenges doesn’t mean that nothing can kill a business model.I personally like seeing movies in cinemas. I belonged to MoviePass when that was a thing, and because my nearby theatre is a Regal, I’m a member of its pass “Regal Unlimited” (not that that’s helped me for the past month or so, or for the foreseeable future). But even before the pandemic, I’ve noticed that except for opening nights, the theaters were pretty empty. I’d estimate typically a quarter full or less. That can’t be good.
The cinema experience won’t suddenly end. But streaming sites are probably their biggest threat. If Netflix hands Martin Scorsese 200 million to get near exclusive rights to his movie, that significantly harms cinemas. No other competitive medium has done that. TV movies are the closest comparison, but they signifcantly lack budgets to match studio movies. VCR and DVD exclusive movies have never been worthwhile as an alternative to cinema movies.Disney for example will keep the likes of Marvel in cinemas, but now with their own site they’re very happy to pump quality material into that over a traditional movie (The Mandalorian easily could be condensed and made into a damn great movie, but it wasn’t and Disney probably made a lot of cash from that series as a result).
I think they are evolving more then dying. I think Covid-19 is going to push studios to consider release more direct to streaming and instead just focus on a handful of block busters a year to put out in theaters. Theaters will adapt to less new content by doing festival screenings and throw back screenings, that is not a bad thing. There are a ton of movies I’ve never seen on the big screen that I would love to experience that way. Imagine seeing Raider of the Lost Ark again on the big screen!
I do wonder why they don’t cater to old people more: The African Queen, etc.I mean, now that would be a deathtrap but still
Pundits have predicting the death of the movie theater since 1928 when no one was sure that this new-fangled talking pictures technology could be replicated in a big room with seats. They were wrong then and they’ll be wrong now.
I would have agreed with that a few years ago, but a lot have stepped up their game since then. Big reclining seats (that you can reserve vs fighting over getting 4 together), bars, food… I go way more often the past 3 years than I did in the 10 before that.
Our local theater of choice is a Cinemark. I’m a sucker for their big comfy chairs and being able to choose my seat in advance (also they are like a half-mile from my house). That being said, the only thing I really miss is the popcorn, but there is a $250 theater-style popper on Amazon and every day I spend a few minutes trying to wear down my wife’s resistance to what would surely be the most idiotic purchase I have ever made.
That thing would pay for itself in like a week. Keep breaking her down.
You don’t miss the popcorn, you miss the “butter” (not actual butter) that they pour over that popcorn. Get yourself some of that stuff, melt it over your home-popped kernels, and you’re golden (plus $250 richer).
Not true. We get the popcorn without butter. But thanks for telling me what I meant! It helps me better empathize with women when they tell me about how much they hate mansplaining.
You’re fun. Keep being you.
Thanks! Keep telling people what to be and what they think! Your opinion matters.
Wow, I’m quite the monster in your head, aren’t I? But don’t take a moment to think that maybe you’re going a little overboard here. Keep on assuming you know everything about me from a few words on a discussion forum, and that all you’re doing is courageously speaking truth to power. Your instincts are just that good.
Thanks! Your opinion matters.
I mean, you’re the person who decided that they knew exactly what a random stranger on the internet liked about popcorn with no other information. You’re sounding a bit like the pot calling the kettle black here.
Kettle corn
Really? I playfully suggest that what he likes about movie popcorn is the gunk they dump over the popcorn – and even if the playful tone didn’t come across in what I typed, we’re talking about movie popcorn, so do any of us really care? He then replies by accusing me of being a misogynist archetype, I guess? I’m still not sure what his point was, but it was a pretty ridiculous escalation. And now you look at this exchange and think, “Eh, six of one, half-dozen of the other.”This right here is the problem with online discussion forums. It’s the digital equivalent of some guy saying to you, “Joaquin Phoenix is the best Joker ever,” and you replying, “I’m not sure, I preferred Heath Ledger,” whereupon the first guy breaks a chair over your head. Things go from zero to sixty in no time at all, and you’re left wondering: where the hell did that come from?
I don’t think Captain Greybar was accusing you of being anything, just that they could empathise with women being mansplained to because the situations are somewhat analagous (someone giving you an unasked for bit of information on a personal statement as if they know more about it than you).And if you’re going for a playful tone that doesn’t come across (it didn’t, by the way), you could say, “My bad, that was meant to be playful, sorry if it didn’t come across.” That might work better than doubling down and telling the other person it’s all their problem.
Uh, where? Antarctica?
There’s that island off India that kills people who attempt to land there. Good chance they have 0 cases, so 2 locations.
July 1? July 1, 2020? Yeah, no.
Maybe this is the anxiety attacks speaking, but I’m not cramming into anything with strangers unless it’s essential public transport for the foreseeable future.
I’d maybe risk it for Tenet and WW84, but if push comes to shove, I’m not risking my health to see them on a really big screen in a dark room.
That wildly optimistic estimate is way off the cine-mark.
Nooooooooooope.
Meanwhile, it’ll be a miracle if AMC survives this. A family friend used to work for upper management there, and when this all started, he said AMC wouldn’t re-open if they were forced to close for more than two months. They’re badly over-leveraged, reliant upon revenues to pay their monthly expenses and property rentals, with very little in the bank, and bleeding cash because of how vast their holdings are. For instance, in my area there is a 30 screen AMC, and damned if I can figure what they play on all those screens, even in good times.Theaters will remain, but I think this will be the death of the national chains, replaced instead by smaller regional and local owners, your Alamos and B&B Theaters, who cater in a broader experience, offering dining and entertainment options in addition to the theater itself, who have fewer screens, and greater versatility in what they show, and enjoy more loyal followers. The only thing I’ll miss about AMC, is they’re the only theater in my area with a 70mm projector, so I don’t know where I’ll go to see the next Nolan.
We’ve already had news of one AMC theatre closing permanently in the Detroit burbs. They had some unique issues beyond Covid, but when they opened they were the sine qua non of movie theatres in the area.
I need movie theaters to open back up. I don’t want the last movie I saw in a theater to be the Impractical Jokers movie.
That one’s on you, buddy.
I can see the attempt happening.Say a venue has 6 screens.3 screens run at lets say less than half occupancy.When those films finish use the other 3 screens and clean out the used rooms.Rinse and repeat.
It’ll be some variation of that, I think.
Cinemark took over the cineplex near me. They replaced all the seating with monstrously uncomfortable fat chairs and also switched over to reserved seating only which is utterly asinine . The concession stand is now some kind of bizarre quasi-buffet setup with the worst food. They are a garbage chain for garbage people. This doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.
Lol reserved seating is the only way to fly
Companies keep fumbling this. I know it is a tentative date, but pressing the issue doesn’t make it look like they are “ready and willing to meet your entertainment needs!” it makes them look like they don’t give a fuck about their staff or the public. A ton of companies, countless really, were sending out emails the FIRST week of quarantine being like “WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS” “CHECK ON EVERY ONE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS RIGHT NOW” “TELL THEM TO LEAVE THE VENTILATOR BEHIND AND SHOW THeM YOu CaRe!” I have read a few of these “guides” to reaching out and they are all essentially sociopathic. Literally the first thing they had their people do was call and be like “Can you offer me a dollar in this trying time?”
They really don’t care. Even if they are set on July 1, good luck hiring the 18K people back they laid off or another 18K to take their spots.
They don’t seem to realize that they are going to have to hire more people to fumigate the theaters and unless they put a disclaimer on the ticket stubs they are going to be potentially liable if they represent they are taking measures to make the theaters safe. Then people will get cancer from the fumigating stuff cuz they’ll buy it from Walter White. Huzzah capitalism!
I’ve been saying that first thing on my “post quarantine” list is going to see a movie at a cinema. I’m not particularly fussed which one. I miss a lot of things right now – sitting at a cafe, going to the pub for a cider, just, you know, seeing other people – but the cinema going experience is the one that hits the hardest right now.