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Hundreds More Movie Theatres Close As Attendance Plummets (hollywoodreporter.com) 131

Posted by EditorDavid from the going-attractions dept.
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland writes: It seems like it's inadvisable to sit in a movie theatre during a pandemic. Thousands of theatres still tried showing movies this weekend — but the number of open theatres is dropping, perhaps because the number of people actually buying tickets appears to be plummeting.

For example, there were 2,154 movie theatres open in America this weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter — roughly 40% of about 5,449 theatres (according to figures they cite from the American media measurement/analytics company Comscore). But the previous weekend there were 2,800 locations still open — over 50%. "Heading into the weekend, 646 movie theaters in the U.S. closed down again virtually overnight amid an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases, according to Comscore. There were also 60 cinemas reclosures in Canada, meaning that in the span of several days, the North American box office lost 706 locations compared to a week ago... Factoring in Canada, the total number of theaters open in North American dropped from 3,096 sites over the Nov. 13-15 weekend to 2,390 theaters..."

But those figures don't tell the whole story. In that same week the box office dropped "as much as 50 percent" — bringing in a nationwide total somewhere around $5 million, the lowest figure since they started re-opening in August. In fact, the #1 film in America — the campy body-swapping horror film Freaky — pulled in a total of just $1.2 million. "The average gross per complex, with 60 percent of these having eight or more screens, was around $4,000 or $500 per screen," reports IndieWire. If you estimate a ticket cost around $10, that comes out to a total for the entire weekend of just 50 people at each screening. "That can't even cover operating costs, especially with half of the revenue going to film rental." (And they also report that some movies did even worse. Jackie Chan's new movie averaged $291 per theatre.)

It could be a chicken-and-egg effect. Movie theatres are reluctant to release their best movies to limited audiences — but then audiences have even less reason to go to the theatres. But another possibility is that millions of people who used to go to the movies decided that it just wasn't worth the risk during a surging pandemic.
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Hundreds More Movie Theatres Close As Attendance Plummets More

Hundreds More Movie Theatres Close As Attendance Plummets

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  • Movie Theatres (Score:4, Funny)

    by Astramensis ( 6745682 ) on Monday November 23, 2020 @07:40AM (#60756526)
    There are still movie theaters?

    Talk about going down with the ship!

    • Exactly. The real news here is that movie theaters still exist. Who knew?

  • Chicken and egg problem here (Score:5, Insightful)

    by damn_registrars ( 1103043 ) <damn.registrars@gmail.com> on Monday November 23, 2020 @08:49AM (#60756678) Homepage Journal
    As attendance plummeted during the pandemic, the major studios have also delayed the release of their blockbuster movies. With nothing new to see in the theatres, the audiences stay home and watch Netflix instead. Sounds like a feed-forward loop to me.

    Did the state have a role? Perhaps. But Hollywood itself didn't help.

    • Absolutely agree. And I've been wondering as well, are the blockbuster studios not considering that if everybody's delaying, there's going to be major competition when the far fewer, surviving cinemas, open their doors safely? It's a lose-lose situation, but it looks like they're holding on to their imaginary cash cows for an imaginary time where cinemas will be open and everybody will choose to see their film instead of all the other delayed ones.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JBMcB ( 73720 )

      Did the state have a role? Perhaps.

      My state said movie theaters couldn't be open for the entire summer, which is where they make the bulk of their money. Then they allowed them to reopen a couple of months ago, with the caveat that they could be closed again at any time in the future. I'd say that is more than a "perhaps."

      I'm not saying they shouldn't have been closed, I am saying that the forced closure absolutely had an impact on their business.

    • I imagine that the megabucks blockbuster model of film making will come to an end, for lack of funds. I do not know how much of a top film's revenue still comes from cinema ticket sales, but I gather this is still what makes the big money. I doubt that this money can be replaced by revenues from streaming, TV, etc.

      Perhaps this might be a good thing. We might actually get films with good stories and proper acting, like in the old days before massive computer animation budgets.

    • Pandemic won't last forever.

      There will be spring effect.

      Also, cassette and vinyl use is flourishing in general, as well as stage theater.

      At worst, cinema will be niche product for niche movies.

  • It offers very, very little that you want that you can't get at home, and a lot that you don't want and you don't get at home. RIP movie theater.

    • I've said this before: It depends.

      No, I don't have a big screen TV--frankly, I don't want one. I don't want to install surround-sound in my home. It's not worth it when I can walk to a movie theater that has all those things.

      That said, I don't go to the movie theater to watch the serious drama or cute romcom or fun comedy anymore. Because, as others have noted, it's not worth the money. The big screen and surround-sound system doesn't really add much compared to a plain 36" TV with stereo.

      So the blockb

  • Catastrophy (Score:3)

    by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Monday November 23, 2020 @08:51AM (#60756694)

    Were are the kids going to play with their cellphones then?

  • In Ontario, cinemas which were permitted to re-open were initially limited to a maximum of 50 people per facility, in line with restrictions at casinos and other entertainment venues. Some areas did loosen up to allow up to 50 per auditorium, assuming the auditorium had sufficient seating to allow social distancing between patrons but now that we're in a second wave, tighter restrictions are returning to the most populous areas. Quebec and BC have similar restrictions - the prairie provinces slightly less

  • Relevancy in the era of COVID (Score:5, Interesting)

    by anoncoward69 ( 6496862 ) on Monday November 23, 2020 @09:01AM (#60756736)
    Movie theaters of the last decade or two were already an unpleasant experience. Stripped down staff making for long ticket/concession lines. Hell the last couple time's i've gone to a theater in the last 5 years or so, they don't even have box offices open you literally just pay where they used to rip off the ticket stub just inside the door. You have one maybe two lines open at the concessions. And the theaters themselves are just downright filthy from not having the staff to clean up between showings. I've come in to theaters that still had cups in the cup holders and concession boxes on the floor/seats from the last showing(s). If Hollywood wants to stay relevant in this era, they are either going to need to start streaming the movies themselves or partner with one, multiple, all of the streaming services to just take movies straight to streaming. If a movie were to actually be rated good, I would probably not have much issue paying $20 for a one time streaming of it to watch it on my own 8ft projection screen at home. Before COVID even happened the theaters had already shot themselves in the foot with the race to the bottom of cutting costs that just made the experience downright unpleasant. I remember a time of going to the moves once a week or every other week, to these days i've maybe seen 3 movies in the theater the last 5 years.
    • The last time I went, the sound wasn't even as good as a $1000 amp.

      • You probably were doing drugs and only thought you went to a cinema but instead went to some indian restaurant and watched a bollywood musical on repeat.

        Either that or you have astronomically shit cinemas.

    • My theaters upgraded. AMC theaters have plush powered recliners for all seats.

      The quality is increasing in many. Go find one.

      • The quality is increasing in many. Go find one.

        I'd have to go out of the county in order to find an improved theater, and that means a twisty narrow highway no matter which direction I go. For those people living in cities it might be viable, but people are leaving cities in droves.

        Meanwhile, zero movie theaters let me pause if I need to take a bathroom break, or want to stop for a discussion. And the majority of them "feature" people fucking with their phones during the movie, sometimes actually taking a call. Fuck that noise.

    • Movie theaters of the last decade or two were already an unpleasant experience.

      Maybe in your area, but that doesn't sound like the industry in general. What's a ticket line by the way, do you not buy and pre-book your seats online? Ticket stub? Are you sure you're talking about 5 years ago or 25 years ago?

      Can't say I've been in a dirty cinema in the past 5 years. I do agree it sounds like the one you're talking about deserves to close and go out of business.

      If Hollywood wants to stay relevant in this era, they are either going to need to start streaming the movies themselves

      Cinema exclusive period was the last remaining bastion of content presentation which did not routinely get pirated in perfect qua

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      Movie theaters were transformed by the licensing arrangements made possible by digital distribution. It's always been true that exhibition fees put movie investors first in line to get paid, even before the movie theater, but now that's so efficient that the distribution company gets *all* the profits for the first two weeks a movie is out, after which, you'll notice, all marketing for a movie disappears. In a blockbuster movie ecosystem, that doesn't leave much for the exhibitor. So the theaters make t

  • On the fence (Score:4, Interesting)

    by WalrusSlayer ( 883300 ) on Monday November 23, 2020 @09:16AM (#60756790)

    There's a local dinner theater chain (three locations) which is a bit quirky, and the movie experience is slightly compromised by the eating arrangement, but back before 'rona I used to patronize it regularly. Was a chance to enjoy some decent-quality pub food while watching a 1st-run movie, and getting out of the house and out of my head. Back when the kids were little, was a two-fer: entertainment and I didn't have to make dinner.

    Right now, I basically am not patronizing restaurants due to the inability to adequately distance, plus the length of time spent indoors at the mercy of ventilation of unknown quality. Stretch that risk profile out to be the length of a feature movie, and no thanks. I'll wait until things improve, I just hope the establishment will still be in business. Frankly I'm amazed it's still around. Even more amazed that people attend given where the 'rona numbers are going.

    Then compare that to the fact that I impulse-purchased a 4K 55" TV from Target last month for a crazy price of $400. Biggest issue was how it fit in the built-in bookshelves, but once me and my teenagers made it work, it's pretty freakin' fantastic for the price. This wasn't even my main home theater screen (a 55" Plasma in the basement with a much better sound system). I'm now tempted to upgrade that puppy to something like 75" and go one notch up on panel quality. At that point I just need to hire a Personal Pub Food Chef...

  • I suppose that the end of movie theaters was inevitable and Covid just sort of pushed it over the edge. There are lots of practical reasons not to go to a movie theater but not everything in life is based on practicality. In some sense it doesn't even matter if the movie is good, it's the experience that makes it fun. Back in the day, that's what kids did on a date. Dinner and a movie.

    Movie theaters are on the way out and restaurants, many of them anyway, are soon to follow. Sad times we are in.

  • It's a combination of negative factors...

    Many people don't want to go during a pandemic.
    There's less movies to see, so even many of those still willing to go won't bother if there's nothing they want to see.
    Many theatres are closed anyway.

    It's a combination of these effects, not one causing the others.

  • This is why lockdowns are good for the economy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by swillden ( 191260 ) <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Monday November 23, 2020 @09:22AM (#60756816) Journal

    Lots of people cry about the economic damage caused by formal, enforced lockdowns, but for some reason completely ignore the fact that in the presence of a surging pandemic, people are going to stay home out of a normal and appropriate sense of self-preservation. This doesn't shut down the economy, but it produces a serious drag on the economy, running everything at maybe 80%, overall, but it goes on and on for endless months.

    In contrast, a few weeks of truly hard lockdown results in maybe a 40% economy, perhaps a little worse, but it only lasts a few weeks, and it knocks the virus numbers down to a level where they can be kept down with testing and contact tracing. It can happen that the situation gets out of control again, particularly as seasons change and, therefore, behavior changes. The answer is to lock down again, get the virus under control, then figure out how to manage the new context. This approach allows the economy to recover to very nearly 100%. In some places in the world they are fully and completely open because they implemented aggressive controls and squashed the virus hard... those countries are going to reap economic windfalls from COVID-19, because they're surging economically while all of their competition is dragging.

    All of the people who shout that we must not lock down to preserve the economy are completely failing to consider the economic effects of not locking down.

    And that doesn't even consider the long-term economic effects of the portion of the labor force that is suffering long-term heart, lung and brain damage from COVID. My sister -- 45, slender, active, no underlying health conditions -- is now seeing neurologists and cardiologists to figure out how severe and long-lasting her damage is going to be. She got COVID two months ago and is still unable to work more than two or three hours per day (her employer is being fantastically-understanding and supportive, BTW), and it's unclear if she'll ever recover fully. It's equally unclear what kinds of long-term medical support she's going to need, especially as she ages, that she wouldn't have needed without that damage. That's just one anecdote, but there are hundreds of thousands like her, plus the tens of thousands of working-age people who have died.

    Just letting the virus run has huge, and long-lasting, economic impacts. Worse than an occasional, short, lockdown.

    • All of the people who shout that we must not lock down to preserve the economy are completely failing to consider the economic effects of not locking down.

      Yeah, here in NH the school districts are dialing back to remote, nominally to get through to the other side of the sh*t-show that will be the holidays. The reasoning is understandable given the current environment: it's not that the schools are having community transmission, it's that the community transmission is affecting the ability to run the school. Having staff and students in quarantine, the staff who live in neighboring towns suddenly having a child care crisis due to other schools pivoting to r

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kbahey ( 102895 )

      In contrast, a few weeks of truly hard lockdown results in maybe a 40% economy, perhaps a little worse, but it only lasts a few weeks, and it knocks the virus numbers down to a level where they can be kept down with testing and contact tracing. It can happen that the situation gets out of control again, particularly as seasons change and, therefore, behavior changes. The answer is to lock down again, get the virus under control, then figure out how to manage the new context. This approach allows the economy

  • Likely eventually anyway? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Monday November 23, 2020 @09:38AM (#60756900) Journal

    While we all bemoan the loss of this sort of cultural local icon, was it really just going to happen eventually anyway?

    I mean, we've seen it in many industries; first large corporate chains come in with economies of scale and the better leverage they have with studios since they represent HUNDREDS of screens instead of 3, and annihilate the 'neighborhood theater' business. Every large city I know is dotted with such theaters either converted to something else, torn down, or limping along as some sort of little boutique art-house theater serving classic or artsy films to a particular audience that combines charitable patronage with entertainment.

    Now - ignoring COVID for a moment - those chains themselves were desperately re-inventing themselves to cope with people being able to stream HD pictures (often relatively close to release date) in the comfort of their own home, with giant relatively cheap flatscreens (I saw a walmart deal for a 55" 4k for something like $150 just last week), your own bathroom, and a PAUSE button.
    They were already losing that battle, badly. Oh, you'll cook me pizza and let me eat in the theater? (You mean, like I do at home?) Big comfy recliner seats (like I have at home)? I can drink booze while watching (like at home)? All for only $100 for a family of four? Really?
    (This is setting aside the general slump in movie quality - both in actual quality, and in the re-engineering films for international consumption so less jaw-jaw and more "boom bang" that's easier to sell in polylingual market...)

    I'm sure they all were melancholy when local blacksmithies - also once ubiquitous, and an iconic part of every small town - closed as well.

    I'd say that in the same sense that COVID is basically killing people that were old/sick enough that they weren't going to live more than another 18 months or so, it's also merely speeding up the demise of this generally-doomed industry.

  • Interesting article, but, closure due to government edict has to be part of the discussion. The provincial government in Manitoba, Canada, for example, just re-instated theatre closures. Even in those places where theatres are open, people are generally aware of what is happening elsehwere, and that knowledge may be a consideration in the decision to go, or stay home.

  • In the last 20 years I've gone to the cinema exactly three times, to watch the last 3 Star Wars movies. Every time the cinemas were filthy and the concession stand prices akin to the current price of gold. I've had the same 42" Samsung TV since 2009 and it serves me perfectly well for watching movies. I have a roaring fire going in the fireplace, a hot beverage at my side, and the ability to PAUSE the movie to use the facilities. What ever happened to intermission at the theaters? The cinema experience in m

  • Cinema attendance has been dwindling for decades - that should come as no great shock to anyone.

    This pandemic is merely accelerating another trend.

    I do, however, shed a tear for the independent cinemas out there - the ones that aren't involved in gouging you out of every penny they can.
    The ones that truly *love* cinema - those bare bones operations that keep old theatres alive, have come up with novel and entertaining ways to keep cinema relevant.

    I am hoping, that once this is over, they actually thrive and

  • This hasn't stopped Hollywood loons from being more pretentious than ever.

  • Early November is normally a slow period at the US box office. The October audience for horror movies is gone (most of them sink like a rock after Halloween) and the big Thanksgiving releases have not yet arrived. If it's an election year, there is the additional factor that people are focused on that rather than on movies. A lot of that 50% box office drop may have been caused by that.

    Still, that doesn't account for theaters choosing to close. In a normal year, theaters would just weather the November lull

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