Let’s go back to January. You know, before this whole COVID thing happened. On Tuesday cheap nights, some friends and I would have the entire day planned out. We’d finish our lectures, do whatever readings we had, and then: movie time. We’d try to book something that sounded remotely good for around 8. Then, we would head out a bit early to grab Five Guys, a staple in our movie night experience (don’t hate), and after that we’d make it to the big spaceship theatre (you know the one) just in time for the previews.
Ah…previews. I’m not sure of the general opinion, but previews are one of the best parts of the theatre experience. Seeing upcoming movie trailers is exciting and pumps me up for future visits. I could definitely do without all the interludes and interviews, but I digress. Later, after finishing the movie we’d step out of the theatre and immediately bounce ideas about the film between us. I fondly remember stepping out of the theatre after seeing Parasite. None of us knew what we were in for, so we didn’t say too much right away. “Well, alrighty then.” Oh, and how could I forget coming out of Knives Out when the first thing my friend said was, “I saw that ending coming.” Uh huh…
Fast forward 11 months and it has now been a very long time since I’ve set foot in a movie theatre. At this point, I’m a bit worried movie theatres won’t be able to hang on until the virus is eradicated. Think about it: cinemas like Cineplex hold huge amounts of real estate in malls or on their own, and now they are empty, racking up rent. Since the business model of movie theatres is to cram as many people in as humanly possible (much like airlines), it’s not unreasonable to say that they have been one of the hardest hit industries by the pandemic.
Along with the evolving means of how people consume entertainment, we might be seeing the downfall of the traditional movie theatre. Disney has experimented with releasing theatre-quality movies like Mulan straight to their streaming service at a fee (well, Mulan was kind of terrible but somehow it still raked in money while charging an exorbitant $34.99). However, you certainly don’t get the full experience of the big screen and sound. With massive films like the newest entry in the James Bond series and Dune being pushed back, it will be interesting to see how the movie industry adapts to the current climate.
I have no doubt that it’ll be quite some time until I see a movie again on the big screen. With COVID cases rising every day in Ontario, it’s only a matter of time until we are back in a lockdown. The only question at this point is: how long can Cineplex and other theatres continue to lose money before going under? For my own sake, I hope they can stay afloat until this subsides. In the worst case scenario, I can still be happy with all the great memories I made Tuesday nights at the theatre. Oh, and Jamie, you definitely didn’t see that Knives Out ending coming.