Movie theaters have been reopening at the start of summer 2021 after being closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This caused independent theaters such as Holiday Cinemas in Wallingford, Connecticut, to struggle with selling tickets and popcorn.
“I was one of the last people working here when we got the information (pandemic closing theaters),”Austin Washington said, manager of Holiday Cinemas. “It was a little disappointing, but at the same time it was for the best, for like safety reasons.”
Holiday Cinemas closed during the pandemic in March 2020 when the state told business to close down to decrease the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Holiday Cinemas later reopened on August 21, 2021, only allowing less than half of the theaters capacity of people to enter.
Other independent theaters however had to close permanently due to the lack of revenue. Of the 5,798 theaters in the U.S., 23% of independent and chain cinemas have stayed closed since March 2020.
“We’re not doing anything to prepare for the end (of the pandemic),” said Alan Soffur, manager of Cine 4 in New Haven, Connecticut. “We’re just hoping people can come here, but as you see we’re all masked up… We’re hoping more people get vaccinated and more people come to the theater.”
Theaters like Cine 4 will have four to five people watching a movie in a theater that can fit over a hundred, have a concession stand filled with candy and popcorn that will never be sold, and employees that will sit around until their shift is over.
With COVID cases dropping throughout the country, more theaters began to reopen. In order to stay safe, theaters began to make new rules for employees and customers when entering the theaters. These rules include theaters being completely cleaned down after every film, everyone must wear a mask when they enter, limiting the amount of customers to enter the theaters, and customers buying food and drinks online with their tickets.
“We do everything, clean, take tickets, concession, there’s no real one job,” said Josh Marks, employee at Holiday Cinemas. “We all alternate. If someone needs help doing something, we go over there.”
While major chain cinemas began opening again in the summer of 2020, Independent theater had only begun to reopen in the spring and summer of 2021. This is due to film directors and major theater chains wanting to movie back in theaters and not on streaming services. The first film that was in theaters was “Godzilla vs. Kong” in March 2021, getting 32.2 million dollars in the opening week.
“We think about where films will go in the future,” said Frederick K. Staudmyer, chair and assistant professor of Film, Television and Media Arts at Quinnipiac University. “If studios have these picture in home and in the theater, you’re going to have a fraction of the population who stay at home… Now with the distribution modal, you can see new releases on Paramount Plus, on Disney Plus, on Netflix.”
Despite theaters opening their doors and dusting off their projectors, people were unaware and even surprised that independent theaters were up and running. Holiday Theaters would usually have there theaters filled halfway to full, but now they only get two to five people in a theater.
“It was a slow reopening,” said Washington, the Holiday Cinemas manager. “We had six hour shifts, which is basically four movie times… the first couple of months were really rough, especially considering people didn’t think we were open.”
Theaters get 40% of each ticket sold, but since people choose to go to larger theater chains to watch movies, Independent theaters are unable to make enough money to stay in business. The National Association of Theater Owners stepped in to help keep theaters and cinemas in business.
In September 2020, the association sent a letter to Congress to give a lifeline to small and mid-sized theater companies. Congress passed legislation on Dec. 27, 2020 and provided $15 billion in grants to help the theaters. Despite the help, theaters like Cine 4 still have a hard time selling tickets and candy.
“By mid June, maybe forth of July, we were actually doing half the business we used to do. Then the delta variant took over and everyone ran away from us,” said Soffur, manager of Cine 4. “Ticket money goes to the film companies in the states more than is goes in our pockets, way less than half nowadays.”
As months went by, more people began to come to the independent theaters because of films beginning to be played only in theaters and not on streaming services. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “No Time to Die,” and “Eternals” are films that premiered in theaters. Marvel’s Shang-Chi made $430 million in the box office, making it the highest grossing film of 2021.
“It’s been slow in the beginning, but now it’s starting to pick up,” said Lia Amadon, another employee at Holiday Cinema. “I feel like they miss the experience. You come to the movies, you get your popcorn, you get your seats. It’s fun.”
With the support given to independent Cinema through customers and the National Association of Theater Owners, it will still take a lot of time to make back the money lost because of the pandemic.