There’s been a lot of talk about the world’s current pause changing how we consume movies. Streaming services were always going to change the entire movie industry, but it looks like the COVID-19 crisis may accelerate that transformation by leaps and bounds. Movie theatres themselves now seem to be an endangered species, and every day they sit empty the possibility of extinction draws closer.
Which would suck for everyone, not just movie fans.
Lots of people are expecting AMC (one of the largest movie chains in the United Sates) to declare bankruptcy any minute now. North of the border, Cineplex Odeon was in the process of being purchased by the British company Cineworld before the world went into lockdown. But now Cineworld may also be teetering on financial ruin as a result of the pandemic. Smaller chains find themselves in even more dire straits and there’s a good chance many won’t survive to see the light of day after this.
On the other side of that coin, movie studios are looking for new ways to distribute their product to a paying public hungry for something new. Anything new. And while the first few toes dipped into the video-on-demand pool were ambiguous at best (movies like Bloodshot, The Hunt and Emma jumped right from quarantine shortened and underwhelming theatrical runs to cable purchase menus), last week’s Trolls World Tour may turn out to be a game changer.
No one really knows that to make of Trolls performance yet. Originally scheduled to hit theatres April 10, Universal sent the Dreamworks animated musical to various video on demand services instead (answering the prayers of millions of parents desperate to entertain their kids on Easter weekend). While many people balked at the twenty dollar rental price, Trolls still enjoyed an eight figure debut. There are about a hundred different ways to interpret Trolls’ performance and there’s no point of reference to form any predictions, but it still gives movie distributors and theatre chains another reason to be nervous.
Many observers are likening the COVID-19 theatre closure to Napster. When the file sharing service exploded on the scene two decades ago, it changed the music industry overnight. Even though Napster eventually imploded, an entirely new distribution model and landscape emerged from its wake. There’s a very real chance the Coronavirus may have that same effect on the world’s theatre chains.
So far movie studios have been crossing their fingers that things will be back to normal later this year and have been juggling their release dates as a result. But if one of them finds a way to market and distribute movies to the public while theatres are shuttered, we’re likely to see a seismic disruption to traditional movie distribution and consumption.
It’s more than a little depressing to see how many people are lining up to stick a fork in the theatre industry. And it’s even sadder to see how many are licking their chops in glee while breaking out their napkins.
But if the traditional movie theatre model is a casualty of the pandemic, if we are in the middle of a transformative moment, we will not only lose something awesome but an important piece of our shared cultural foundation. Sure, it can be great watching new movies on your TV, laptop or tablet, but there’s no way those screens can replicate the experience of seeing movies the way they were meant to be seen.
Arthouse movies, rom-coms and dramas may be able to get away living exclusively on the small screen (and it’s quite likely that’s where they’ll end up after all is said and done), but the impact many movies can have on an audience can only be felt and appreciated on the big screen and as part of the theatre experience.
Whether it’s watching the U.S.S. Enterprise fight its way out yet another interstellar ambush or one of Star Wars’ epic space battles, there’s a huge portion of movies that live to be seen on sixty foot screens with THX sound. How many movie-goers, regular or otherwise, couldn’t wait to see Black Widow or Wonder Woman kick super villain ass on the big screen? How many people couldn’t wait to see Mulan’s sweeping and majestic cinematography on IMAX? Meanwhile the time bending action scenes from Tenet looked tailor made for a four story screen. And would anyone really prefer to see the new Dune epic for the first time on their laptop instead of a towering screen?
Everyone can vividly remember seeing the orc armies of Mordor clash with the armies of elves and men when they saw the Lord of the Rings in theatres. Everyone remembers seeing Superman streak across the sky on the silver screen, whether it was Christopher Reeves, Brandon Routh or Henry Cavill. And would anyone have ever truly cared about Avatar if it was only available on the small screen, 3D or not? How many timeless sound tracks would be wasted on television speakers, never having received the big scale surround sound treatment?
And it isn’t just the memory making experience of seeing big scenes on big screens. Seeing movies is a communal experience. How many people cheered in unison when Steve Rogers lifted Mjolnir in Avengers: Endgame? How many people jumped at the same time when Jason came out of nowhere to claim his next victim? Or shared the reveal with equal surprise when everyone found out Bruce Willis was a ghost at the end of The Sixth Sense? How often have entire theatres laughing uncontrollably at the same joke or sight gag? Or groaned at an overdose of cinematic cheese? How often they been touched by the same moment of tragedy or psychological horror? How often have hundreds of people shared the small joy of noticing easter eggs during the newest tent-pole blockbuster?
Sharing moments like that with a room full of strangers can be an empowering experience, especially during trying times.
Sure, you can build a theatre system in your home now. Big screen plasma TVs, high definition media centres, sound bars and mega powered 360 degree speakers, you can even get specialty chairs and lighting systems to add to the experience. But not everyone has ten grand they can blow at BestBuy and odds are fewer people will be able to afford luxuries like that following the current pandemic (if nothing else, COVID-19 has exposed how deep the economic inequalities run here in the west).
And even then, even the biggest state of the art home theatre system can’t duplicate the sheer spectacle of a movie theatre. When the long awaited Top Gun sequel Maverick finally arrives in theatres, would it look better on a sixty inch television screen or a six story IMAX screen? Would it sound better on some home speakers or full IMAX surround sound? Would it be a more satisfying social experience to share the numerous whoa moments the film is inevitably full of with two people or two thousand?
Yes, seeing a movie in the theatre can be an annoying experience. From the mess left behind by previous shows (seriously people, collect your garbage on your way out), to long waits in line for snacks, from people talking on their phones to people who refuse to shut up (looking at you teenagers and soccer moms). And no, it isn’t cheap (but is by far a cheaper experience than investing in a home theatre set up where half the tech will be obsolete in six months), but a night at the movies is far cheaper than most sporting events, music concerts or even a vacation.
Losing the option of the theatre going experience would be a genuine loss for our culture. Movies are our modern mythology, a reflection of our tastes and preferences, of what make us happy or sad, what makes us laugh or terrifies us to our core. They’re even an expression of our bigotries and prejudices. Movies reflect our collective imagination and how we see the world we inhabit and they’re one of the best ways we can tell and share our stories. Whether it’s a an emotional and ethical gut-wrencher like Sophie’s Choice, the unflinching character examination (and indictment) of the Godfather or the space born fairy tale of Star Wars, movies have always been a language that expresses the human condition as it exists in that specific moment.
And the best place to tell and watch those stories has always been on the big screen, often surrounded by a hundred strangers who can share (or detest) the experience with us. So while the industry may change when all is said and done, we will still need the big screen. Not only to see tales of the distant past and unrealized future, of worlds that never were or haven’t quite been, of battles between valiant heroes and classic villains or fantastic visions we could never have imagined on our own, but to truly appreciate them.
To truly experience them.
Image cbc.com
