Movie Theatres: Post Pandemic

William Stanziano, Editor-in-Chief

Movie theatres shut down at the beginning of the pandemic, and not every theatre company has been able to withstand the many months without business. Also, as a result of this mass closure, many movies slated for release in 2020 had to be pushed back to 2021,
Some major movie theatre chains, such as Pacific Theatres or Alamo Drafthouse had to file bankruptcy. But one company, AMC Theatres, has been able to survive the worst of the pandemic, and is beginning to play offense again.
Of course, even before coronavirus, streaming services were taking their toll on the movie theatre industry, but once people didn’t have the option of going out, streaming services took off. I know that I have watched more hours of tv a day this past 18 months than I ever have before. I spent hours watching The Floor is Lava, Buddy VS Duff, Nailed It (the one where people can’t really cook) and many other shows that would not have interested me before.
Movie theaters are trying to win the viewers back and get them to spend money in theaters.
AMC has decided to advertise on television. On Wednesday, September 8th, AMC Entertainment began it’s all-new $25 million multimedia advertisement campaign, with the help of Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman.
“With all the change occurring in these uncharted waters in which we now navigate, we believe it is high time for an industry leader like AMC to go on television to remind today’s audiences of the magic that can only be found in a movie theatre and at AMC, with our big seats, our big sound and our big screens,” AMC CEO Adam Aron said.
I believe that mid-summer, we were all optimistic that Coronavirus was on it’s way out, and life would go back to normal, and movie theaters would repopulate quickly, but then the Delta variant hit us.
I for one really hope the movie theatre industry will continue to be around for a very long time, but with movies being delayed in production, theaters closing and movies being released to streamers and theaters at the same time, the future may not be as bright as thought a few months ago.
People are hesitant to go back into theaters, which I understand, but as it becomes safer COVID wise, I’m very much looking forward to experiencing movies the way they were meant to be experienced – also to have slushies again.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/08/amc-is-about-to-do-something-its-never-done-before-advertise-on-tv.html
https://theconversation.com/streaming-wars-how-threatening-are-they-really-to-the-film-industry-151649
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/delayed-releases-shuttered-theaters-covid-19s-toll-on-the-movie-industry