GUEST EDITORIAL: What to Know About the Show as Theaters Reopen
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What to Know About the Show as Theaters Reopen
by Lewis Robinson
If you are an aficionado of going to the theater to see motion pictures, you must be relieved to see the pandemic fading and the cinemas beginning to reopen. You might also be interested in knowing that the theaters missed you more than you missed them. From 2019 to 2020, American cinemas suffered a 72% decline in revenue. Many independent theaters did not survive and some chains had to consolidate in order to make it through the year financially. Even though the slowdown has passed and those theaters that made it are open and showing films again, things have changed in many ways. Here is a brief overview of the current state of the movies and what we can expect from theaters and the movies themselves in the years to come.
What About Staying Home and Streaming?
It is not like there were no movies to see during 2020. Some big-budget features that were headed for the cinema—think Wonder Woman 1984—ended up on the streaming services that just kept emerging throughout the year and offering new content. Our routine, since we were stuck at home anyway, became: grab something nutritious, slap on a thrive patch, and binge not just movies but entire seasons of our favorite telenovelas. Some pundits predicted streaming coupled with the quarantine would be the end of the movie theaters altogether. Then along came Godzilla versus King Kong, which had an opening weekend box office of $48 million. The cinema was back. Certainly, streaming will not be going away. Indeed, it is expanding. Theaters may be changing but they are here to stay as well.
What Changes You Will Notice?
Chances are, the first time you went to a cinema after the pandemic, you noticed things were a little different. Frankly, theaters were already changing their operating procedures before the quarantine, which allowed them the quiet time to complete their transformation. Here are some of the noteworthy differences in theaters as of 2021:
Theaters will have smaller, revamped seating. Count on recliners (sometimes even heated), reserve seating and significantly reduced numbers of available seats.
You will get to help yourself a lot more. From purchasing your tickets online, you will be able to fill and refill your own soda cup and get concessions from a machine.
Special offers to join movie clubs for discount tickets will be coming your way, often.
Theater chains will likely continue their consolidation as well as their attempts to advertise to you personally.
What Is Different About the Films Themselves?
Many of the big-ticket movies are decades in the planning. Thus, some of the changes in the focus and production of new films were already in the works before 2020. For instance, mega productions like No Time to Die and Dune were shot with the recognition that viewers would not fully appreciate them unless they were seen on the widescreen. The pandemic itself has reportedly reinvigorated the production of documentaries along with intimate, personal independent films. What will not change is the flood of derivative movies (every comic book hero gets 90 minutes of cinema) and sequels. Of the top 30 grossing movies between 2010-2019, only one—Frozen—was neither a sequel nor based upon characters already familiar to viewers.
What Movie Trends Are on the Horizon?
As noted, superhero movies are not going away, especially since Avengers: Endgame turned into the most financially successful movie of all time. The heroes themselves, however, may be changing. More female main characters, lead actors of color and characters portrayed as LBGT will be taking center stage. There is a trend toward more “grown-up movies,” with even some of the comic book hero movies now sporting R ratings. Down the road, there may be some computerized audience participation films as well as movies that have elements and storylines that will not be streamed and only shown in select theaters.
It is a brave new world for the cinema. Movie theaters are changing in ways we cannot anticipate, though we can smell the corn popping.
