8 ms·

Regal and Cineworld reportedly closing all theaters in US and UK next week

86 points by zeristor 6y ago

viraptor 6y ago
This one is really interesting to me since it's an extreme case (due to the building structure) of "if they leave, what's your plan for that space, exactly?". Could they survive by firing lots of people and basically hibernating for a few months / a year?
- danjac 6y ago
  I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years there will be a lot of suspiciously-cinema-shaped gyms and family play centers everywhere.
  - d4rti 6y ago
    There are already many cinema shaped Bingo halls in the UK.
    - crtasm 6y ago
      And at least one Weatherspoons (chain pub). Sad when that one shut down - though it's possible the new multiplex had the same owners.
    - johtso 6y ago
      This one went through quite a few changes! cinema->glass factory->storage warehouse->bingo hall->snooker club->restaurant->cinema http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/16613 http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/16613
  - pbourke 6y ago
    Neither of those are sparkling businesses during the pandemic
    - toomuchtodo 6y ago
      They don’t have to be. The buildings will still be there, it’s the debt securing them (and equity, depending on the capital structure) that’ll eat the losses until they’re repurposed at some point in the future.
      - ZanyProgrammer 6y ago
        Assuming they’re secured and maintained enough to avoid vandalism and damage. Once water/mold start getting into abandoned buildings there’s only one option left eventually.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  They won't be able to service their debt.
  - chiph 6y ago
    Long-term debt would indeed be a problem. I would think it'd be unlikely they could go back to the markets & put up additional shares for sale, since investors would want some assurance that patrons will return to theaters once the pandemic restrictions have been eased. [0] Whether they can pay their operational debt (rent, utilities & property taxes mostly, since they won't be paying employees or suppliers) would depend on their cash balance. Eight months into this, and their cash has got to be running pretty low. [0] I for one will not. I wasn't happy with the megaplex movie-going experience anyway, and there isn't an Alamo Drafthouse in Charlotte.
    - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
      Long-term debt is going to be the ultimate problem. Commercial property is already looking very rocky, and it's going to have its 2008 moment within 18 months or so. IMO this is a major social shift, not a temporary distraction from business as usual.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  How do you pay your debts while hibernating?
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    You take on new debts and try to persuade creditors you'll be paying them off real soon now. This isn't snark - it's literally the new normal in many sectors.
    - Turing_Machine 6y ago
      Yeah, if the creditor has a choice between (maybe) getting paid at some point in the future or definitely not getting paid at all, some will opt for the maybe. It would be different if they could resell the property, but in a market where no one is buying, it's a different story.
- DanBC 6y ago
  Odeon Cinemas have been experimenting with operating as Nightingale Courts. I don't think this gives them nearly enough money to stay alive, especially seeing the poor condition of existing court buildings in the UK. https://planetradio.co.uk/borders/local/news/jurors-at-the-movies/ https://planetradio.co.uk/borders/local/news/jurors-at-the-m... https://www.societyofeditors.org/soe_news/uk-trials-conducted-with-juries-in-odeon-cinemas-to-start-within-weeks/ https://www.societyofeditors.org/soe_news/uk-trials-conducte...
- untog 6y ago
  I’ve seen a few repurposed as comedy clubs. Ironically brings them closer to their original role as proper theatres. You don’t get the all-day money making you do with a cinema (though plenty of daytime screenings are very empty) but you can serve booze and proper food, so there’s a middle ground of profit to be had, I suppose.
  - vr46 6y ago
    Stand-up comedy doesn't have a fraction of the audience, sadly, and many cinemas already serve booze and proper food, even going as far as to-your-seat-service. Everything is ruined, isn't it?
  - bpicolo 6y ago
    A ton of these are like 10-20 screen locations I imagine. Would be a hell of a comedy club
    - untog 6y ago
      Yeah I think the giant out of town multiplexes are screwed. But they’re probably also a lot cheaper to redevelop into something totally different.
- mathieuh 6y ago
  My ex-employer bought a cinema and are planning to knock it down and build an office on the site[1]. I left before hearing any plans about it, not sure if they always planned to knock it down or somehow convert it. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52813604 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52813604
rwmj 6y ago
Note that Cineworld took on a bunch of debt to fuel expansion last year: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/06/15/curtain-falls-cineworlds-debt-fuelled-expansion/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/06/15/curtain-fall... Even in a pre-coronavirus parallel universe, it was a move that looked hugely risky for a company carrying a mountain of debt after its £2.7bn purchase of Regal Cinemas in the US just a year earlier. Greidinger, it is fair to say, has not been shy about using leverage to expand. The takeover of Regal left it with debts of £2.3bn and £2.8bn of lease commitments. Yet here he was proposing to take on another £1.7bn of loans so it could gatecrash the Canadian market.
- smnrchrds 6y ago
  Cineworld was in the process of acquiring Cineplex, the largest theatre chain in Canada, when the pandemic happened. They want to walk away from the contract and Cineplex in suing them. IIRC, the contract specifically says pandemics are not a valid reason for termination, so this should be interesting to watch. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cineworld-takeover-cineplex-termination-1.5573054 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cineworld-takeover-cineplex...
  - claydavisss 6y ago
    At worst, Cineworld pays a penalty for breach of contract, but that will be another debt collected in bankruptcy.
cwhiz 6y ago
They could try begging to Congress, like the airlines.
- codeulike 6y ago
  OMG, thats it, the answer is to merge cinemas and airlines into one venture - so if you want to see the latest movies, you have to see them on a plane
claydavisss 6y ago
It has to be torture for theaters now. Basically zero revenue for months while all of the bills and debts accumulate. Studios are quietly walking away through endless delays. Everyone will make less money in the future...home streamers don't pay per-seat
robjan 6y ago
The sad thing is that Cineworld (in the UK anyway) pretty much forced the consolidation of the market by rapidly expanding in the 90's and 00's followed by selling tickets at a loss. This resulted in lots of cinemas going bust after which they increased prices. So now many towns and cities will have no nearby cinema.
- kasperni 6y ago
  Consolidation or not. I think local independent cinemas have been a dying breed for many years.
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    They're a very niche interest - only really viable in student towns and areas with a proportion of comfortably off arts-loving middle classes. But TBH cinema has become a bit of an ordeal. It's such a weird experience - simultaneously sterile and massively overhyped in almost every possible way. I'd started enjoying theatre more because that has a real magic - possibly because clever physical stage effects and real people acting in front of you engage the imagination in a way a projection can't. But that's not any more likely to survive this than cinemas are. Although low budget theatre productions are more likely to restart more quickly because they only really need a large empty room, some lighting, and some props.
vr46 6y ago
This is a bit of a disaster, I won't shed any tears for the massive multiplexes or the people behind Cineworld, but their local Picturehouse cinemas are wonderful, often local hubs and employ many dedicated and lovely people. In and around London, I will personally miss Bromley Picturehouse, The Ritzy in Brixton and The Gate in Notting Hill. Cineworld Feltham for a time was the busiest cinema in the entire country, seemingly due to its schedule of Bollywood movies. A lot of customers and employees being hammered here. If Odeon or anyone can muster up the cash, which they probably can't, picking up the Picturehouse chain would be seriously marvellous.
- codeulike 6y ago
  I always loved The Ritzy
- mattl 6y ago
  I had no idea Cineworld bought them. I loved the Picturehouses.
- vr46 6y ago
  Looks like the reports weren't confirmed: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/04/cineworld-to-close-all-its-uk-cinemas-putting-5500-jobs-at-risk https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/04/cineworld-t... Now it says "considering" and "temporarily". Hmm
codeulike 6y ago
If cinemas had never existed, just TVs in people's homes, and a startup (post pandemic) tried to pitch the idea as "Its like theatre but for films, everyone buys a ticket and then you play a film on a really big screen and you watch it with a few friends and lots of strangers, we think we can get exclusives for a few months before they go to streaming" Do you think anyone would be interested? Discuss.
- Zhyl 6y ago
  I think if I were to pitch something like the small London theatres, there'd be a market. The differences: * Smaller screens * Comfier seats * Higher quality snacks * Plus beers, cocktails, small appertiser type meals (e.g. sliders or similar) * Films known to have cinematic/spectacular appeal from any time rather than just the latest releases. * 'The Room' playing once a month I would absolutely pay current cinema prices, plus food + drink for an afternoon of comfort and films that I otherwise wouldn't see, in the atmosphere they were meant for. I guess it brings it closer to theatre in that sense as you tend to have a better idea of what you're seeing, whether people like it, whether you already like it and whether it's going to be worth your time/money.
  - pfdietz 6y ago
    What that sounds like is a party room that comes with a wide screen entertainment system. What might make that work would be a system where you can group up with people you are more connected to, not complete strangers.
    - nicoburns 6y ago
      It already works. There are lots of local independent cinemas like this.
      - ethbr0 6y ago
        My understanding is that their economics have been tenuous, especially if they're trying to compete with commercial theater-like AV technology. What I'd love to see would be group-buys at local theaters, with the entire catalog of film at pre-negotiated prices.
paul_f 6y ago
If you are already seriously ill and contract COVID, it will often finish you off. The movie theater business was quite ill going into 2020 and then ...
thrusong 6y ago
I'm the guy who automated my home theatre using PHP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc8K6lg7Ag8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc8K6lg7Ag8 I tried to get it to be exactly like the movie cinemas I grew up in right before the multiplex and megaplex trend took off. I've always loved movie theatres. I've always wanted to own several real ones, but even though it's what my heart wants, my brain always wins. The economics are tough, the barrier to entry is high, and Cineplex is a ruthless cutthroat competitor. I was a big fan of Famous Players but always found Cineplex (Canada) to be an extraction business which runs its locations into the ground. That's exactly what they've done to Famous Players. Landmark Cinemas (Kinepolis) is our second biggest chain, but small compared to Cineplex. They have a young CEO and corporate team and they seem to be giving Cineplex a run for their money. I won't shed a tear if Cineplex falters and needs to be broken up or shed locations. I'm just hoping that it lowers the barrier to entry so some young entrepreneurs can take a stab innovating in this industry and moving it forward.
- dom96 6y ago
  Nice! Do you have a write up of how you put that home theatre together? I haven't realised it until now but the darkness is really what makes it and I'm curious about the costs.
  - thrusong 6y ago
    Not currently, but I've thought about opening a blog to talk about it. However, since my chances of opening a real movie theatre are pretty low, I'd ideally like to commercialize this at some point. It probably requires a rewrite in a language I can compile to protect the source.
Exmoor 6y ago
I must admit to being a bit mystified by the apparent flourishing the theatre industry has had in the last decade or so. The only thing I could see keeping the cinemas expanding was a steady stream of comic book based movies being released, and history would indicate that this specific genre would go out of fashion eventually. The theatre experience never held a lot of allure for me in the first place and while it definitely improved with the transition to stadium seating and digital projectors the home experience has improved exponentially in both the quality of viewing experience and the ease of obtaining content.
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
In this plague world, its odd for folks gather at a common place to share breath and popcorn, all to watch a film at a schedule time together but in total silence and not interacting at all. Maybe its time to lower the curtain on the old theatre model of media.
- gremlinsinc 6y ago
  Maybe also, we bring back drive-ins, I still love drive-ins 100x more than theaters, but alas moved where there aren't any right now.
- anoncake 6y ago
  That would indeed be fucking stupid if we had a pandemic of the plague, which kills up to 70% of the infected. Even though people behave as if it were higher, COVID IFR is only ~0.5%.
asah 6y ago
it's due to the James Bond delay, and it's only a temporary closure... in other words, it's no time to die. (ducks)
- monkeydust 6y ago
  And bond movie delayed to allow more greater chance of cinema returns yet there might not be many cinemas left!
eric_b 6y ago
Lots of people in this thread are dismissive of big cineplexes and seem to be happy they're struggling. Maybe these companies are ruthless and evil, but to all the people who are thinking "yeah I just watch the movies in my basement and it's better" - I think you're missing the point. I've lived in multiple cities where the movie theater wasn't just about watching movies. The racial makeup of my area is overwhelmingly white, but when I go to movies easily half the people in the theater are people of color. It's a constructive way for teenagers and younger people to spend their time and hang out, particularly if they come from poorer neighborhoods with limited options, or they have many siblings at home and they need a reprieve. With the theaters, schools and other obvious young-person activities closed, petty crime where I live is way up, mostly being committed by young people of color. I can't say I'm surprised - without constructive things to do the young people will still find amusement. Young affluent teenagers have video games and entire basements to play them in. Poorer kids don't have those options. Personally, I wish there'd be less glee over this and other closures. I was never a fan of the term "privilege" - but rich white tech people really do need a lesson in empathy.
- nicoburns 6y ago
  The big cineplexes also tend to charge a lot more than smaller chains or independent cinemas. Sometimes 5x more. The ideal outcome here is that the chain collapses, but the building itself passes into community ownership or is taken over and run by a small local company.
shalmanese 6y ago
This move all but guarantees that Bad Boys for Life will be the highest grossing domestic film of 2020 and, for the first time since the silent film era, a non-American film will be the highest grossing film of the year (The Eight Hundred). https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/#tab=year https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/#tab=year
- xRubbermaid 6y ago
  To nitpick, that list has at least three British films pop up in the latter half of the 20th century (Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever and Moonraker). Relaxing to "non-Anglosphere" is still very notable though.
mindslight 6y ago
It's a pandemic. Why the fuck aren't they already closed?! Oh that's right - the debt black hole that everyone must find ways to keep feeding, lest they be devoured themselves. Wouldn't it be nice if our economy allowed businesses to graciously survive a shutdown?

86 points by zeristor 6y ago

This one is really interesting to me since it's an extreme case (due to the building structure) of "if they leave, what's your plan for that space, exactly?". Could they survive by firing lots of people and basically hibernating for a few months / a year?

danjac 6y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years there will be a lot of suspiciously-cinema-shaped gyms and family play centers everywhere.
- d4rti 6y ago
  There are already many cinema shaped Bingo halls in the UK.
  - crtasm 6y ago
    And at least one Weatherspoons (chain pub). Sad when that one shut down - though it's possible the new multiplex had the same owners.
  - johtso 6y ago
    This one went through quite a few changes! cinema->glass factory->storage warehouse->bingo hall->snooker club->restaurant->cinema http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/16613 http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/16613
- pbourke 6y ago
  Neither of those are sparkling businesses during the pandemic
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    They don’t have to be. The buildings will still be there, it’s the debt securing them (and equity, depending on the capital structure) that’ll eat the losses until they’re repurposed at some point in the future.
    - ZanyProgrammer 6y ago
      Assuming they’re secured and maintained enough to avoid vandalism and damage. Once water/mold start getting into abandoned buildings there’s only one option left eventually.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
They won't be able to service their debt.
- chiph 6y ago
  Long-term debt would indeed be a problem. I would think it'd be unlikely they could go back to the markets & put up additional shares for sale, since investors would want some assurance that patrons will return to theaters once the pandemic restrictions have been eased. [0] Whether they can pay their operational debt (rent, utilities & property taxes mostly, since they won't be paying employees or suppliers) would depend on their cash balance. Eight months into this, and their cash has got to be running pretty low. [0] I for one will not. I wasn't happy with the megaplex movie-going experience anyway, and there isn't an Alamo Drafthouse in Charlotte.
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    Long-term debt is going to be the ultimate problem. Commercial property is already looking very rocky, and it's going to have its 2008 moment within 18 months or so. IMO this is a major social shift, not a temporary distraction from business as usual.
chrisseaton 6y ago
How do you pay your debts while hibernating?
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  You take on new debts and try to persuade creditors you'll be paying them off real soon now. This isn't snark - it's literally the new normal in many sectors.
  - Turing_Machine 6y ago
    Yeah, if the creditor has a choice between (maybe) getting paid at some point in the future or definitely not getting paid at all, some will opt for the maybe. It would be different if they could resell the property, but in a market where no one is buying, it's a different story.
DanBC 6y ago
Odeon Cinemas have been experimenting with operating as Nightingale Courts. I don't think this gives them nearly enough money to stay alive, especially seeing the poor condition of existing court buildings in the UK. https://planetradio.co.uk/borders/local/news/jurors-at-the-movies/ https://planetradio.co.uk/borders/local/news/jurors-at-the-m... https://www.societyofeditors.org/soe_news/uk-trials-conducted-with-juries-in-odeon-cinemas-to-start-within-weeks/ https://www.societyofeditors.org/soe_news/uk-trials-conducte...
untog 6y ago
I’ve seen a few repurposed as comedy clubs. Ironically brings them closer to their original role as proper theatres. You don’t get the all-day money making you do with a cinema (though plenty of daytime screenings are very empty) but you can serve booze and proper food, so there’s a middle ground of profit to be had, I suppose.
- vr46 6y ago
  Stand-up comedy doesn't have a fraction of the audience, sadly, and many cinemas already serve booze and proper food, even going as far as to-your-seat-service. Everything is ruined, isn't it?
- bpicolo 6y ago
  A ton of these are like 10-20 screen locations I imagine. Would be a hell of a comedy club
  - untog 6y ago
    Yeah I think the giant out of town multiplexes are screwed. But they’re probably also a lot cheaper to redevelop into something totally different.
mathieuh 6y ago
My ex-employer bought a cinema and are planning to knock it down and build an office on the site[1]. I left before hearing any plans about it, not sure if they always planned to knock it down or somehow convert it. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52813604 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52813604

rwmj 6y ago

Note that Cineworld took on a bunch of debt to fuel expansion last year: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/06/15/curtain-falls-cineworlds-debt-fuelled-expansion/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/06/15/curtain-fall... Even in a pre-coronavirus parallel universe, it was a move that looked hugely risky for a company carrying a mountain of debt after its £2.7bn purchase of Regal Cinemas in the US just a year earlier. Greidinger, it is fair to say, has not been shy about using leverage to expand. The takeover of Regal left it with debts of £2.3bn and £2.8bn of lease commitments. Yet here he was proposing to take on another £1.7bn of loans so it could gatecrash the Canadian market.

smnrchrds 6y ago
Cineworld was in the process of acquiring Cineplex, the largest theatre chain in Canada, when the pandemic happened. They want to walk away from the contract and Cineplex in suing them. IIRC, the contract specifically says pandemics are not a valid reason for termination, so this should be interesting to watch. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cineworld-takeover-cineplex-termination-1.5573054 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cineworld-takeover-cineplex...
- claydavisss 6y ago
  At worst, Cineworld pays a penalty for breach of contract, but that will be another debt collected in bankruptcy.

cwhiz 6y ago

They could try begging to Congress, like the airlines.

codeulike 6y ago
OMG, thats it, the answer is to merge cinemas and airlines into one venture - so if you want to see the latest movies, you have to see them on a plane

claydavisss 6y ago

It has to be torture for theaters now. Basically zero revenue for months while all of the bills and debts accumulate. Studios are quietly walking away through endless delays. Everyone will make less money in the future...home streamers don't pay per-seat

robjan 6y ago

The sad thing is that Cineworld (in the UK anyway) pretty much forced the consolidation of the market by rapidly expanding in the 90's and 00's followed by selling tickets at a loss. This resulted in lots of cinemas going bust after which they increased prices. So now many towns and cities will have no nearby cinema.

kasperni 6y ago
Consolidation or not. I think local independent cinemas have been a dying breed for many years.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  They're a very niche interest - only really viable in student towns and areas with a proportion of comfortably off arts-loving middle classes. But TBH cinema has become a bit of an ordeal. It's such a weird experience - simultaneously sterile and massively overhyped in almost every possible way. I'd started enjoying theatre more because that has a real magic - possibly because clever physical stage effects and real people acting in front of you engage the imagination in a way a projection can't. But that's not any more likely to survive this than cinemas are. Although low budget theatre productions are more likely to restart more quickly because they only really need a large empty room, some lighting, and some props.

vr46 6y ago

This is a bit of a disaster, I won't shed any tears for the massive multiplexes or the people behind Cineworld, but their local Picturehouse cinemas are wonderful, often local hubs and employ many dedicated and lovely people. In and around London, I will personally miss Bromley Picturehouse, The Ritzy in Brixton and The Gate in Notting Hill. Cineworld Feltham for a time was the busiest cinema in the entire country, seemingly due to its schedule of Bollywood movies. A lot of customers and employees being hammered here. If Odeon or anyone can muster up the cash, which they probably can't, picking up the Picturehouse chain would be seriously marvellous.

codeulike 6y ago
I always loved The Ritzy
mattl 6y ago
I had no idea Cineworld bought them. I loved the Picturehouses.
vr46 6y ago
Looks like the reports weren't confirmed: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/04/cineworld-to-close-all-its-uk-cinemas-putting-5500-jobs-at-risk https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/04/cineworld-t... Now it says "considering" and "temporarily". Hmm

codeulike 6y ago

If cinemas had never existed, just TVs in people's homes, and a startup (post pandemic) tried to pitch the idea as "Its like theatre but for films, everyone buys a ticket and then you play a film on a really big screen and you watch it with a few friends and lots of strangers, we think we can get exclusives for a few months before they go to streaming" Do you think anyone would be interested? Discuss.

Zhyl 6y ago
I think if I were to pitch something like the small London theatres, there'd be a market. The differences: * Smaller screens * Comfier seats * Higher quality snacks * Plus beers, cocktails, small appertiser type meals (e.g. sliders or similar) * Films known to have cinematic/spectacular appeal from any time rather than just the latest releases. * 'The Room' playing once a month I would absolutely pay current cinema prices, plus food + drink for an afternoon of comfort and films that I otherwise wouldn't see, in the atmosphere they were meant for. I guess it brings it closer to theatre in that sense as you tend to have a better idea of what you're seeing, whether people like it, whether you already like it and whether it's going to be worth your time/money.
- pfdietz 6y ago
  What that sounds like is a party room that comes with a wide screen entertainment system. What might make that work would be a system where you can group up with people you are more connected to, not complete strangers.
  - nicoburns 6y ago
    It already works. There are lots of local independent cinemas like this.
    - ethbr0 6y ago
      My understanding is that their economics have been tenuous, especially if they're trying to compete with commercial theater-like AV technology. What I'd love to see would be group-buys at local theaters, with the entire catalog of film at pre-negotiated prices.

paul_f 6y ago

If you are already seriously ill and contract COVID, it will often finish you off. The movie theater business was quite ill going into 2020 and then ...

thrusong 6y ago

I'm the guy who automated my home theatre using PHP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc8K6lg7Ag8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc8K6lg7Ag8 I tried to get it to be exactly like the movie cinemas I grew up in right before the multiplex and megaplex trend took off. I've always loved movie theatres. I've always wanted to own several real ones, but even though it's what my heart wants, my brain always wins. The economics are tough, the barrier to entry is high, and Cineplex is a ruthless cutthroat competitor. I was a big fan of Famous Players but always found Cineplex (Canada) to be an extraction business which runs its locations into the ground. That's exactly what they've done to Famous Players. Landmark Cinemas (Kinepolis) is our second biggest chain, but small compared to Cineplex. They have a young CEO and corporate team and they seem to be giving Cineplex a run for their money. I won't shed a tear if Cineplex falters and needs to be broken up or shed locations. I'm just hoping that it lowers the barrier to entry so some young entrepreneurs can take a stab innovating in this industry and moving it forward.

dom96 6y ago
Nice! Do you have a write up of how you put that home theatre together? I haven't realised it until now but the darkness is really what makes it and I'm curious about the costs.
- thrusong 6y ago
  Not currently, but I've thought about opening a blog to talk about it. However, since my chances of opening a real movie theatre are pretty low, I'd ideally like to commercialize this at some point. It probably requires a rewrite in a language I can compile to protect the source.

Exmoor 6y ago

I must admit to being a bit mystified by the apparent flourishing the theatre industry has had in the last decade or so. The only thing I could see keeping the cinemas expanding was a steady stream of comic book based movies being released, and history would indicate that this specific genre would go out of fashion eventually. The theatre experience never held a lot of allure for me in the first place and while it definitely improved with the transition to stadium seating and digital projectors the home experience has improved exponentially in both the quality of viewing experience and the ease of obtaining content.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

In this plague world, its odd for folks gather at a common place to share breath and popcorn, all to watch a film at a schedule time together but in total silence and not interacting at all. Maybe its time to lower the curtain on the old theatre model of media.

gremlinsinc 6y ago
Maybe also, we bring back drive-ins, I still love drive-ins 100x more than theaters, but alas moved where there aren't any right now.
anoncake 6y ago
That would indeed be fucking stupid if we had a pandemic of the plague, which kills up to 70% of the infected. Even though people behave as if it were higher, COVID IFR is only ~0.5%.

asah 6y ago

it's due to the James Bond delay, and it's only a temporary closure... in other words, it's no time to die. (ducks)

monkeydust 6y ago
And bond movie delayed to allow more greater chance of cinema returns yet there might not be many cinemas left!

eric_b 6y ago

Lots of people in this thread are dismissive of big cineplexes and seem to be happy they're struggling. Maybe these companies are ruthless and evil, but to all the people who are thinking "yeah I just watch the movies in my basement and it's better" - I think you're missing the point. I've lived in multiple cities where the movie theater wasn't just about watching movies. The racial makeup of my area is overwhelmingly white, but when I go to movies easily half the people in the theater are people of color. It's a constructive way for teenagers and younger people to spend their time and hang out, particularly if they come from poorer neighborhoods with limited options, or they have many siblings at home and they need a reprieve. With the theaters, schools and other obvious young-person activities closed, petty crime where I live is way up, mostly being committed by young people of color. I can't say I'm surprised - without constructive things to do the young people will still find amusement. Young affluent teenagers have video games and entire basements to play them in. Poorer kids don't have those options. Personally, I wish there'd be less glee over this and other closures. I was never a fan of the term "privilege" - but rich white tech people really do need a lesson in empathy.

nicoburns 6y ago
The big cineplexes also tend to charge a lot more than smaller chains or independent cinemas. Sometimes 5x more. The ideal outcome here is that the chain collapses, but the building itself passes into community ownership or is taken over and run by a small local company.

shalmanese 6y ago

This move all but guarantees that Bad Boys for Life will be the highest grossing domestic film of 2020 and, for the first time since the silent film era, a non-American film will be the highest grossing film of the year (The Eight Hundred). https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/#tab=year https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/#tab=year

xRubbermaid 6y ago
To nitpick, that list has at least three British films pop up in the latter half of the 20th century (Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever and Moonraker). Relaxing to "non-Anglosphere" is still very notable though.

mindslight 6y ago

It's a pandemic. Why the fuck aren't they already closed?! Oh that's right - the debt black hole that everyone must find ways to keep feeding, lest they be devoured themselves. Wouldn't it be nice if our economy allowed businesses to graciously survive a shutdown?