Movies available for viewing at South Point once again
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| Century 16 South Point and XD (Courtesy: Keaton Perida) |
Next time you arrive at a movie theater, think about what it took for it to open again. Theatergoers have been able to go see movies in theaters since they opened in August 2020. Since opening, though, theaters have been less busy than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On February 26, 2021, Cinemark held
an earnings conference call where CEO Mark Zoradi discussed how the pandemic
had affected theaters and plans going forward.
"It is almost unfathomable that one year ago, we were reporting Cinemark’s fifth consecutive year of record results with the North American industry touting the second-highest grossing box office of all-time,” Zoradi said. “We remain highly confident in the rebound of our industry once the virus is more contained, as evidenced by recent box office results in China, Japan and Australia.”
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| Cinemark movie theaters are open again (Courtesy: Cinemark) |
Still,
Cinemark Holdings, Inc.’s total revenues for the twelve months ended December
31, 2020 were $686.3 million compared to $3,283.1 million for the twelve months
ended December 31, 2019, nearly an 80% loss in revenue.
Due
to the lack of business, comes new promotions and deals, as theaters have begun
spotlighting the ability for customers to rent an entire theater and showing
old movies for as low as $2. Cinemark movie theaters remain open and will
continue following safety procedures to make sure they can remain open.
The
COVID-19 pandemic made it so that in order for theaters to operate, they
require customers and employees to wear masks and employees must sanitize
seats, counters, door handles, and anything else that was potentially touched
by a customer during and after movies, in addition to cleaning theater floors
as usual. Although the standards for a clean theater have changed, many
theaters are keeping up with new standards to keep theaters running and give
theatergoers the best experience possible.
When asked about how her theater
experience differed from her experience prior to the pandemic, Trisha Elliott,
52, said, “Theaters were empty. Literally, no people.”
Elliott,
who has been a frequent theatergoer for most of her life, was surprised by the
emptiness, yet understood. Theaters were going to be less busy because of a
pandemic. Elliott took her own precautions before entering the theater as well,
as she brought a mask, hand sanitizer, and wipes when she went to see DC’s
Wonder Woman 1984.
Elliott also mentioned that she has
been receiving new updates from Cinemark via email about promotions they are
having. She often gets emails that mention rentable theaters and exclusive discounts
on concessions, like popcorn. Elliott ignores many of these, as she prefers to
bring her own snacks and drinks to theaters, and has no plans to rent a theater, saying it
is pretty much a total waste unless you have the money to do it. She said, “I’d
rather bring my own stuff to a theater, because theaters charge too much.”
Another theatergoer, Wintana Gebrai,
20, attended movies frequently before the pandemic. Before theaters opened,
Gebrai began receiving emails mentioning reopening and giving her offers for discounted
popcorn.
“I
hate popcorn, so the price cut was worthless to me,” Gebrai said, but she still
went to theaters when they first reopened to go see Christopher Nolan’s Tenet
and again in December 2020 to see DC’s Wonder Woman 1984. Select theaters were also rentable to view these films.
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| Wonder Woman 1984 (Courtesy: Clay Enos/Warner Bros.) |
“Why rent a theater, when you can just buy a
regular-priced ticket and the theater will probably be empty anyway?” She
continued, “When I saw Tenet, the theater was empty except for one
couple.” Gebrai went on about her experience before saying, “Wearing a mask was
inconvenient, too. I would prefer to stay home and use my Netflix, Hulu, Amazon
or HBO Max account to watch something than go to a theater.”
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| Tenet (Courtesy: Melinda Sue Gordan/Warner Bros.) |
Streaming continues to become a more
and more popular option that many former customers are using. Many customers
find it is safer and more convenient. Even customers who frequently attended
movies, like Elliott and Gebrai, prefer it over theaters. Elliott said, “I can
lay down in bed, pause when I want, finish a movie or show later. It’s just
more convenient and a little better.”
Theaters remain open, and customers continue to go. How long they remain in business with the increase in streaming usage, remains a question, though. Theaters have been taking the proper precautions to ensure customer safety, but even then, customers are not coming in as frequently as they used to.
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