It’s a big month for movie releases, but cinemas around Vermont are waiting to see if COVID-19 concerns and the increased popularity of streaming services will keep theatergoers away from the big screen.
After months of sparse attendance, movie theater owners hope a slew of big-budget, special effects-packed films set to premiere this month could kick-start their faltering industry. But whether Vermonters will trade the living room for the auditorium to get their entertainment is not yet known.
In any event, theater owners agree: If ever a scenario was designed to coax people back into theaters, this would be it.
“I’ve never seen an October like this. Studios are just itching to get their movies out,” said Chad Free, owner of the Springfield Cinemas 3 and a close observer of the film industry.
“We’ve been looking forward to it for a while,” said Eric Reynolds, general manager of Essex Cinemas.
The month of blockbusters revved up last weekend with Venom: Let There Be Carnage. No Time to Die, the long-awaited James Bond film, hit theaters Thursday night, and the sci-fi flick Dune is slated for an Oct. 22 release.
But Vermont’s tussle with the delta variant may be warding off some potential customers, theater owners suspect.
“In my mind, most people are staying away because of fear of transmission,” Reynolds said.
Free agreed, though he predicts the string of visual spectacles will motivate more people to return to the plush seats this month. Up to now, he said, “most families are just trying to take care of themselves, and I don’t blame them.”
Still, some theater owners are frustrated with what they say is a widespread perception that theaters are unsafe. The owners described steps their businesses are still taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as reducing auditorium capacity so audiences can space out, and requiring employees to wear masks at work.
“Theaters have gotten this black eye over the pandemic,” said Free, who told VTDigger that there has been no known case of COVID-19 contracted at his theater.
In addition to health concerns, though, drastic changes during the pandemic have rocked the industry, theater owners said. As streaming services exploded in popularity, some film studios released movies online as soon as they appeared in theaters — a move the industry calls a “day-and-date” release.
The streaming evolution has also left theaters with fewer films to show, said Frederick Bashara, owner of the Capitol Showplace in Montpelier and the Paramount Twin Cinema in Barre.
“Right now we have, like, one movie coming out a week and seven screens to fill,” Bashara said.
To the delight of theater owners, the age of day-and-date releases for blockbusters will likely end soon, Free said, since they’re less profitable for both big studios and movie theaters.
Major studios such as Warner Bros. (owner of HBO Max) and Disney (which operates Disney+) have already abandoned the strategy, opting instead to wait 45 days after a movie hits theaters to launch it on their streaming platforms, a period known in the movie business as a “theatrical window.”
But 45 days is about half the length of a theatrical window before the pandemic, and Free is concerned the change could hurt movie theaters.
“My real worry is that we’re going to train the consumer to just wait a couple weeks to see it at home,” Free said.
As if to prove that point, the kickoff of Venom — which isn’t available to stream and has a theatrical window of at least 60 days — drew bigger audiences than any other movie released during the pandemic. That record could be broken this weekend with No Time to Die, another Sony film that will premiere only in theaters.
But Dune — which is set for a day-and-date release via HBO Max — has Reynolds on the edge of his seat.
“That’ll be the big test,” Reynolds said. “There’s a lot riding on Dune.”
While Free agreed that Dune could make a statement about how popular streaming has become, he believes the allure of a cinematic experience will entice people to see it on the big screen.
“Since the cavemen, people have liked to sit in the dark and watch stories play out,” Free said. “People who want to go to a movie theater, who feel comfortable going to the theater, are going to see it in theaters.”