After seven months away from theaters I finally made my way back to one yesterday, and am planning to return as often as I can to catch up on 2020 release reviews and enjoy filmgoing once again. However, I want to discuss my visit to the theater in some depth, too.
I went to a sixteen-screen complex (where I had once managed for a year, long, long ago) and was happy to find it clean and bright. However, it was also empty. On a late Saturday afternoon, I saw less than twenty people in total during my two hour visit. I remember the July 4 holiday of 2007, when that same theater came close to having ten thousand patrons that day; I worked a very long shift that day. Yesterday, there was a larger staff in attendance than an audience.
The good news is that the staff was following protective guidelines and all health protocols are being followed. I witnessed a staff member clean and then disinfect the auditorium where I was to sit; I waited in the alcove until that process was finished. I and the few patrons other than myself wore our masks the whole time, didn’t talk, and behaved ourselves properly. During the film exhibition, everything was just as it should be. I can say with firm candor that I felt perfectly safe the whole time, and that I plan on going back soon, again and again.
The bad news is that movie theaters cannot hope to survive with attendance this low. They just can’t. Even with a hit film (remember one of those?) this theater would cap its attendance at 40% capacity for each show. And right now there are no such films being shown. Theaters are responding by showing old favorites for $5 a ticket in many locations, but even this hasn’t helped much. It’s a terrible situation for the industry, and it may change how we see movies permanently.
If you don’t feel safe going out, by all means do not. But if you want to see movie theaters stay alive, the only way that they are going to is with people like you and I going to see something once in a while. With attendance as low as it is right now, I think it’s a very low risk scenario. I’ve personally seen the precautions being taken (albeit just at one screen at one location), but I am confident in the industry’s response to the coronavirus. I plan on reestablishing my moviegoing habit for as long as theaters are around; that is how movies are meant to be seen. I would encourage you to consider doing the same. Again, if you don’t have that confidence, or if you see evidence of negligent response, by all means go home or stay home (but let the offending theater know your feelings). I’ve spent a great deal of my life in these places and I believe they are important to preserve. That’s my two cents’ worth about the situation. Stay safe.
Bob Lentz