Corona Movie Theater Thread: 49% Say Movie Theaters Are Now "Obsolete"

[AndyDursin]

This is not a good sign.

[Monterey Jack]

I will put a bullet in my head if movie theaters never re-open.

[mkaroly]

In all honesty, if movie theaters ceased to exist I would not miss them. I am completely happy watching movies at home and eating my own snacks rather than paying for a seat at a theater. But I am probably an outlier case since I go to the theater maybe once a year if there were movies out there I wanted to see. Would have gone twice this year (Godzilla vs. Kong; Bond).

[Paul MacLean]

But I am probably an outlier case since I go to the theater maybe once a year if there were movies out there I wanted to see..

It's the same with me. I went to the movies I think twice in 2019. And I'm trying to remember what I actually saw!

There are so few pictures these days which I have any interest in seeing. There's nothing like experiencing Ben-Hur or Apocalypse Now on the big screen, or a thrilling crowd-pleaser like Jaws or Raiders of the Lost Ark with an audience. But I can't remember the last time I saw a movie of that calibre in the cinema. (The Rise of Skywalker certainly wasn't one).

What's annoying is that every Christmas my brother gives me movie passes -- I have a about six or seven piled-up in my desk, unused.

[Monterey Jack]

I see anywhere between sixty and seventy movies in the theater per year. I miss the experience terribly, like an absent limb.

[AndyDursin]

I'm with Michael. I hadn't been to a movie since Christmas, but was going to A QUIET PLACE II and Bond.

That's what film going has become for me also. A few trips for major movies a year.

I do miss going to the movies -- but back when I was in high school, and I'd either go with my friends, or with my parents after school on Friday afternoons, to see GOODFELLAS or any number of quality adult projects that now would never make it to a theater.

[mkaroly]

Back in the day I loved going to the movies...especially in college when I should have been studying.

Movie-going was fun with friends, and sometimes there was a film or two that I would see on my own because I was bored or I knew others wouldn't go see the film with me (clears throat "DAVIDCRONENBERG"). Nowadays I don't particularly care for going to movies by myself. On top of that all my friends are married and have kids, so getting a guys movie night thing together is extremely tough...heck, we can't even figure out when to hang out together at someone's house! Movie theaters for me aren't really fun places anymore (especially at current prices). Most of the multiplexes are so corporate and like a store-chain; I guess I will miss the smaller art house theaters and those with some unique down-to-earth something about them if they go under. But at this point it is just so much easier (and cheaper) to watch the movie at home and relax.

[AndyDursin]

The other big problem? What is there to SEE.

They were already having a problem because the big Disney movies and comic book flicks were choking out programming. It's a year-round diet of disposable brands and recycled franchises nearly every week.

If people get tired of them, it's going to be a death knell for the cinema. Will this virus push it over the edge? That's what's interesting.

I mean, who the hell wants to "get out to the movies", go through all of this crap and wear a mask just to watch something like MULAN?

[Eric Paddon]

SInce I've been to a movie theater probably about 12 times in the last 20 years (and a six to seven year stretch where I never went once), things haven't changed for me there.

[mkaroly]

The other big problem? What is there to SEE....I mean, who the hell wants to "get out to the movies", go through all of this crap and wear a mask just to watch something like MULAN?

Not me! Lol...excellent point. Or perhaps worse than MULAN is CALL OF THE WILD (the Harrison Ford and CHI dog movie)?? Pass.

[AndyDursin]

Sounds like MULAN may not be playing in theaters after all.

https://deadline.com/2020/05/disney-no- ... 202946549/

[Paul MacLean]

I suspect a lot of people are going to emerge from this pandemic with a measure of PTSD, and will never go to the movies again.

And I’m sure this will extend to a lot of other things as well — sporting events, amusement parks, houses of worship, etc.

[jkholm]

I suspect a lot of people are going to emerge from this pandemic with a measure of PTSD, and will never go to the movies again.

And I’m sure this will extend to a lot of other things as well — sporting events, amusement parks, houses of worship, etc.

My wife took our kids to an indoor trampoline park the other day. Those places are usually packed but my kids were the only ones there for most of the time.

[AndyDursin]

That reminds me of the only time Theo ever became really sick, which was a few days after we went to the local trampoline park when he was 2. He ended up picking up an awful virus which I ended up getting right after...48 hours of vomiting where I could not hold down even a soda. Lost 10 lbs. before I could start eating again.

So...it's not a bad thing nobody was there!

[AndyDursin]

Oh boy.