- Title: Beyond Oscars glitz, movie theaters face tricky post-pandemic future
- Date: 21st April 2021
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 13, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ARCLIGHT CINEMAS EXTERIOR SIGN FOR BOX OFFICE
- Embargoed: 5th May 2021 02:19
- Keywords: CineArts Empire Oscars cinemas entertainment future of cinema movie business movie theaters movies
- Location: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- City: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA003E9GSG2H
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Maryo Mogannam snuck into the Empire theater in San Francisco with his older cousins to watch "Animal House" when he was 13. He watched most of the James Bond movies at the historic arthouse and took his wife there on some of their first dates.
The cinema, which had been showing movies since the silent film era, served notice in February that it was permanently closing due to the impact of COVID-19. The marquee is now blank, and cardboard and paper cover the box office window.
"(It's) kind of like losing part of the community when you lose a theater like this," said Mogannam, now 57, who owns a retail shipping outlet near the theater, which owner Cinemark had renamed as CineArts at the Empire.
As vaccinated Americans emerge from their homes, they also may find their neighborhood theater is not there to greet them.
An eight-cinema chain in New England said it will not re-open. The same fate hit a Houston arthouse beloved by director Richard Linklater and, in a shock to Hollywood, more than 300 screens run by Los Angeles-based Pacific Theatres. That includes the Cinerama Dome, a landmark with a 97-foot curved screen and a host of red-carpet movie premieres.
Following a year of closures, theaters face deferred rent bills plus media companies' focus on drawing customers to streaming. Up to one-quarter of the 40,000 screens in the United States could disappear in coming years, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said.
The National Association of Theatre Owners rejected that estimate, pointing out that similar dire warnings around the arrival of television and the switch to digital screens never came to pass, spokesman Patrick Corcoran said.
Hollywood filmmakers want cinemas to thrive.
Chloe Zhao, Oscar-nominated director of best picture contender "Nomadland," said: "For 300 people to laugh and cry the same time, strangers, not just your family in your house, that's a very powerful thing."
At the Oscars on Sunday, the movie industry will celebrate filmmaking and "make a case for why cinema matters," producer Stacey Sher said. While acknowleding the hardship of the pandemic, "we also have to fight for cinema and our love of it and the way it has gotten us through things," she said.
In the United States and Canada, the world's largest film market, roughly 58% of U.S. and Canadian theaters have re-opened, most restricted to 50% capacity or less.
Industry leaders project optimism, forecasting a big rebound after COVID restrictions ease and studios unleash a heap of blockbusters postponed by the pandemic.
Waiting in the wings are a new Bond adventure, a "Top Gun" sequel, a string of Marvel superhero movies and a Batman reboot.
"Avatar 2," James Cameron's follow-up to the highest-grossing film of all time, is set to debut in December 2022. Some box office analysts predict 2022 ticket sales will hit a record.
Supporters point to late March release "Godzilla vs. Kong," which brought in roughly $48.5 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices over its first five days even though audiences could stream it on HBO Max.
"That was a big win for the entire industry," said Rich Daughtridge, CEO of Warehouse Cinemas in Frederick, Maryland.
But near- and long-term challenges loom, particularly for smaller cinemas.
Theaters are negotiating with landlords over how much back rent they must pay. A federal assistance program hit a snag when the application website shut due to technical problems. Some theaters need those funds to stay afloat until more movies roll out, said Daughtridge, a board member of the Independent Cinema Alliance.
Plus, media companies are bringing movies to homes sooner. Executives hail streaming as their priority in order to compete with Netflix Inc, pouring billions into programming made to watch in living rooms. Streaming boomed while people quarantined at home.
Even before the pandemic, it was difficult for locations with six or fewer screens to make money, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said. Larger multiplexes stagger showtimes to keep concession stands busy and operate more efficiently.
Most at risk are theaters with one or two screens, Pachter said. He best current guess is between 5,000 and 10,000 screens could go dark in coming years.
"We've so far had Alamo Drafthouse declare bankruptcy and Arclight announced that they're not going to reopen their 300 screens. I think that's the tip of the iceberg. That's three percent. I think you're going to easily see 10 percent close and more likely 20 to 25 percent over the next year," Pachter said.
Big chains, which comprise roughly half the U.S. market, may close underperforming cinemas as leases expire. AMC, the world's largest theater operator, said it shut 48 U.S. locations in 2020.
Outside Pacific's Cinerama Theatre in Los Angeles, movie producer Seven Graham lamented the institution's closure.
"You can't reproduce the experience of seeing a movie with other people who you don't know. That collective audience experience is so, so valuable, and as a producer I want to see my movies in places like this. I don't want them to just be streamed at home. It's not the same. We're a common humanity. And I think if COVID has told us anything, it's how important community and experiencing things together is. If we lose this place, movies will never be the same," Graham said.
New owners could save some shuttered theaters. Social media users called on a celebrity such as Quentin Tarantino or Brad Pitt to rescue the Cinerama Dome.
In June, operators will launch the first-ever Cinema Week, an industry-wide push in the vein of Restaurant Week with special events and deals. It will run as the ninth "Fast & Furious" movie is expected to roar into theaters.
Part of the message for the campaign, according to organizers: "It's time to break up with your couch."
(Production: Nathan Frandino, Alicia Powell, Rollo Ross, Sandra Stojanovic) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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