They want butts in seats.
Years after the pandemic forced movie theaters across the country to close down — sending everyone home to their streaming devices — cinema chains are struggling to figure out how to bring audiences back.
And they’re looking at everything — from lifting strict anti-phone policies to raucous sing-alongs.
“We need to find a way to get people back into the habit of going to theaters,” John Fithian, co-founder of consulting firm The Fithian Group, told Variety. “You can’t stay stuck in a 100-year-old way of doing business — that’s not going to work anymore.”
Since COVID, Eric Handler of Roth Capital Partners told the trade tab, theaters are seeing smaller crowds — and weaker box office returns.
“The recovery has been much slower than people hoped,” he said.
One owner of a smaller Midwest chain isn’t waiting around for the crowds to magically reappear.
“The pandemic made us realize that we need to diversify,” says Bob Bagby, CEO of family-owned B&B Theaters. “We can’t just depend on studios to provide us with what we need to drive our business.”
That means pickleball games and cocktails in the lobby, even bowling — all designed to get people to see the theaters as more than just a place to screen the latest flicks.
Fathom Entertainment, an event company backed by major chains like AMC and Regal, has found ways to turn slow nights into major happenings — screening everything from opera to boxing to classics like ‘The Chosen’.
Their biggest hit last year? A ‘Coraline’ re-release.
Fathom CEO Ray Nutt told the outlet it’s all about the communal experience — because sometimes, watching at home just doesn’t cut it.
As Nutt noted, “Coming out of the pandemic, everybody wanted to gather communally somewhere, and they wanted to be shoulder to shoulder.”
With that said, industry experts like Nutt hope that more live events will lure back lapsed moviegoers and rekindle the magic of the multiplex. “This is a growth sector of the business, no question about it,” he stressed.
Home viewing may now be the norm for many young film fans, but there could be ways for theaters to lure them out again — if they dare.
Kev Jones, a movie buff spotted by a reporter smoking weed outside AMC Times Square before a “Mickey 17” screening this month, said he’d hit the theater more often — if he could legally light up inside.
“How fun would that be?” the AMC Stubs A-List member proposed to Variety. “They have a bar here so that people can relax and enjoy a drink. I’d love to relax on my own terms.”
Recreational marijuana has been legal in New York since 2021, but you won’t find it on the concession stand next to the popcorn — at least not yet.
“At this time, cannabis can only be sold at legal, licensed dispensaries or microbusinesses,” Taylor Randi Lee, press secretary for the state’s Cannabis Management office, told the publication.
And while some owners won’t even discuss loosening restrictions on phones — others appear open to the idea.
Last year, Megaplex Theatres tested in-theater partitions — letting texters do their thing without distracting others.
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