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This is certainly an exciting rumor but I had a question about this: “Movie theaters are done. The biggest chain in the world will likely shutter permanently n

This is certainly an exciting rumor but I had a question about this: “Movie theaters are done. The biggest chain in the world will likely shutter permanently next month and the others are likely to follow suit.” Is this generally expected? I know the pandemic has a done a number on them, but are movie theaters really expected to disappear forever?

Accujack 6y ago
Mostly, at least the first run theaters. They were honestly not seeing good profits for a while, because they had to pay so much for films to the studios/distributors. Most of the chains in my area have gone under and won't reopen, and it's difficult to see anyone getting investment for new ones any time soon - even if they came back to 100% of what they were before the pandemic, they wouldn't be a great investment. Smaller theaters showing older movies will probably pick up, though... places where you can have a beer and watch Casablanca or a 1970s war movie, that kind of thing.
techer 6y ago
We’ve been told, in the UK at least, COVID is never going away. So it’s possible that large scale it’s over. Cinemas will live on in some form.
- gojomo 6y ago
  COVID may stay around as an endemic, circulating virus - but at the same time, it will recede in impact. Eventually, nearly everyone will have some level of immunity via either natural-infection-and-recovery, or explicit vaccination. (The latter is certainly better for avoiding death or serious complications.) Even if that immunity fades somewhat with time, as seems to be the case with other 'common cold' cornoaviruses, it'll typically be re-boosted by either a mild survivable case (from circulating virus), or explicit re-vaccination. So at some point – probably no later than 2022 – people will be behaving mostly as before, because the ongoing impact of COVID will have shrunk to be similar to traditional colds/flus.
subsubzero 6y ago
yeah I don't really trust anything in the article based on that statement: >“Movie theaters are done." It sounds like just wishful thinking(regarding firefly), but I'd love to be proven wrong :) a firefly reboot would be great and many people have wanted this for a long time, the problem is its been way too long and alot of sci-fi fans may have forgotten or just don't know about it, the show was cancelled 18 years ago so most 20 somethings have no idea what it is.
- Arainach 6y ago
  Why not? Theaters have been hurting for a while, and if launching movies simultaneously on HBO Max is successful enough to stick, it could easily draw enough customers to kill the entire model. Two tickets and a popcorn - for a single movie - is more than a monthly subscription to HBO Max.
  - subsubzero 6y ago
    Its precisely that statement that makes me sure that movie theaters are not going anywhere, they make a ton of money for studios and alot of people like the experience. Once the vaccine is out and cases have dropped I will be back in the theaters to watch Dune, the new Avatar movies etc.
floren 6y ago
It's not a great time to be an AMC theater, for sure. But I don't really see the wholesale abandonment of a 100 year old form of entertainment just because we couldn't do it for a month. Theaters may start to look different over the next couple years, but people enjoy going to the movies. We might see a tendency toward smaller theaters. Maybe more will start serving food and drinks. Maybe we'll see a wider adoption of strict rules against talking & cellphones a la Alamo Drafthouse, since those are basically the two things that will truly ruin the show for people. Basically, theater buildings are already built. Projectors are already installed, and film reels are out there. Even if the big studios decided that all new movies are going straight to streaming, the back catalog of amazing movies is HUGE: I would happily go several times a year to a nice theater that showed the old classics. I saw 2001 last year, projected from a 70mm print, and it was fantastic (even though the incompetent AMC theater couldn't get the house lights shut off for the first half)
andylynch 6y ago
Probably not, but looking around here I think the big operators like AMC are in the worst position as they rely the most of the big releases absent this year, and I suspect have larger overheads too. I suspect some will fail or get bought at a discount but studios, but the outlook for smaller ones is more positive given their audience and more flexible offering - ef locally I see all the big cinemas closed, but some interesting new releases at the little ones , who’ve also partnered with distributors for online screenings and spotting the takings.
gdulli 6y ago
People seem to project their personal biases onto the theoretical permanent societal effects of covid. When covid is over, nothing will have changed about human nature with regards to wanting to go out vs. stay in. At first there will be pent-up desire to go out more frequently, but then things will revert to the norm. When people see dramatic headlines about businesses shutting down, they fail to look ahead at those businesses eventually getting replaced with new ones to match rising demand.
dualboot 6y ago
Most of the mega-chain theatres were in rough shape two years prior to the pandemic. I, personally, don't believe that the film exhibition format will go completely away. I think it will return to being owned by the major studios with a sprinkling of localized art-house theatres in cities that can support them.

Accujack 6y ago

Mostly, at least the first run theaters. They were honestly not seeing good profits for a while, because they had to pay so much for films to the studios/distributors. Most of the chains in my area have gone under and won't reopen, and it's difficult to see anyone getting investment for new ones any time soon - even if they came back to 100% of what they were before the pandemic, they wouldn't be a great investment. Smaller theaters showing older movies will probably pick up, though... places where you can have a beer and watch Casablanca or a 1970s war movie, that kind of thing.

techer 6y ago

We’ve been told, in the UK at least, COVID is never going away. So it’s possible that large scale it’s over. Cinemas will live on in some form.

gojomo 6y ago
COVID may stay around as an endemic, circulating virus - but at the same time, it will recede in impact. Eventually, nearly everyone will have some level of immunity via either natural-infection-and-recovery, or explicit vaccination. (The latter is certainly better for avoiding death or serious complications.) Even if that immunity fades somewhat with time, as seems to be the case with other 'common cold' cornoaviruses, it'll typically be re-boosted by either a mild survivable case (from circulating virus), or explicit re-vaccination. So at some point – probably no later than 2022 – people will be behaving mostly as before, because the ongoing impact of COVID will have shrunk to be similar to traditional colds/flus.

subsubzero 6y ago

yeah I don't really trust anything in the article based on that statement: >“Movie theaters are done." It sounds like just wishful thinking(regarding firefly), but I'd love to be proven wrong :) a firefly reboot would be great and many people have wanted this for a long time, the problem is its been way too long and alot of sci-fi fans may have forgotten or just don't know about it, the show was cancelled 18 years ago so most 20 somethings have no idea what it is.

Arainach 6y ago
Why not? Theaters have been hurting for a while, and if launching movies simultaneously on HBO Max is successful enough to stick, it could easily draw enough customers to kill the entire model. Two tickets and a popcorn - for a single movie - is more than a monthly subscription to HBO Max.
- subsubzero 6y ago
  Its precisely that statement that makes me sure that movie theaters are not going anywhere, they make a ton of money for studios and alot of people like the experience. Once the vaccine is out and cases have dropped I will be back in the theaters to watch Dune, the new Avatar movies etc.

floren 6y ago

It's not a great time to be an AMC theater, for sure. But I don't really see the wholesale abandonment of a 100 year old form of entertainment just because we couldn't do it for a month. Theaters may start to look different over the next couple years, but people enjoy going to the movies. We might see a tendency toward smaller theaters. Maybe more will start serving food and drinks. Maybe we'll see a wider adoption of strict rules against talking & cellphones a la Alamo Drafthouse, since those are basically the two things that will truly ruin the show for people. Basically, theater buildings are already built. Projectors are already installed, and film reels are out there. Even if the big studios decided that all new movies are going straight to streaming, the back catalog of amazing movies is HUGE: I would happily go several times a year to a nice theater that showed the old classics. I saw 2001 last year, projected from a 70mm print, and it was fantastic (even though the incompetent AMC theater couldn't get the house lights shut off for the first half)

andylynch 6y ago

Probably not, but looking around here I think the big operators like AMC are in the worst position as they rely the most of the big releases absent this year, and I suspect have larger overheads too. I suspect some will fail or get bought at a discount but studios, but the outlook for smaller ones is more positive given their audience and more flexible offering - ef locally I see all the big cinemas closed, but some interesting new releases at the little ones , who’ve also partnered with distributors for online screenings and spotting the takings.

gdulli 6y ago

People seem to project their personal biases onto the theoretical permanent societal effects of covid. When covid is over, nothing will have changed about human nature with regards to wanting to go out vs. stay in. At first there will be pent-up desire to go out more frequently, but then things will revert to the norm. When people see dramatic headlines about businesses shutting down, they fail to look ahead at those businesses eventually getting replaced with new ones to match rising demand.

dualboot 6y ago

Most of the mega-chain theatres were in rough shape two years prior to the pandemic. I, personally, don't believe that the film exhibition format will go completely away. I think it will return to being owned by the major studios with a sprinkling of localized art-house theatres in cities that can support them.