The pandemic with the coronavirus has resulted in closures of movie theatres worldwide and in the US too.
It has also led to the delay of the 2020 announced blockbusters such as the Black Widow and the No Time to Die, a new James Bond movie.
However, this apparently doesn’t mean that going to the movies is impossible- drive-in movie theatres in the US are opened and they’ve also witnessed a surge in revenue as customers are looking for ways to get out of their homes while still applying to the rules of social distancing.
Could Drive-In Theatres Make a Comeback?
Andrew Thomas who owns the Showboat Drive-In Theatre located in Hockley, Texas witnessed a 40 percent increase in sales two weeks ago, as well as a 95 percent increase the past week only by showing two movies- the Onward by Disney & Pixar and the Invisible Man by Universal Pictures.
Thomas says that people are searching for ways to feel normal and this somehow gives them a feeling of safety.
He spends his days answering emails from people who’ve never heard of them since they’re looking for what to do.
Drive-ins are also helping other companies get reborn.
For example, the founder and CTO of Ultimate Outdoors Entertainment, an outdoor movie-screen rentals company, Darrell Landers, explains that their company lost major revenue because of the closings due to the coronavirus.
His company survives from bringing big groups of people together so that they can watch movies outdoors.
They now shifted their focus on their mobile drive-in theatre business that’s been idle for 12 years and are using their LEDs to allow movie watching in any time of the day.
The drive-in is in a way a rebirth for them and a way to be able to replace some of the lost income.
Business Is Apparently Booming
Their director of sales and marketing Kat Randolph claims that they’ll notice an incline in business since they’ve received numerous questions from their consumers, including from LA entertainment companies that want to give back to their local communities.
Randolph says that people are eager to be a part of the theatre experience in any form or shape.
However, only 5 to 10 percent of the drive-ins in the US are benefitting from the health crisis, explains Jim Kopp, the administrative secretary for the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association who also owns the Family Drive-In in Virginia.
They would all like to reopen and they’re aware that people want a safe surrounding where they can get entertainment as family and see movies.
Without doubt, the virus caused a lot of uncertainties in the global economy and the future of the movie business remains unknown.
However, one thing’s for sure- it’s the desire of people to recapture the big-screen movie theatre experience in any way and this shows the importance of the moviegoing experience, especially during these unprecedented times, claims media analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore.
Sources:
