One of the early impacts of the coronavirus pandemic was the closure of movie theaters across the country. In mid-March, multiple movie theater chains announced that they would be closing their theaters to abide recommendations surrounding social distancing and other measures intended to slow the spread of COVID-19. However, even with the majority of theater chains closed for the foreseeable future, not all screens have gone dark. According to Deadline, 14 theaters in the United States remained open last week with all but one being drive-ins.
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According to the report, the theaters that remained open were the Van Buren Drive-in in Riverside, CA; the Mission Tiki in Monclair, CA; the Galaxy Drive-in in Ennis, TX; the Glendale 9 in Glendale, AZ; the Sacramento 6 Drive-In; the Starlite Drive-in in Cadet, MO; the South Bay Drive-In San Diego; the Auto Drive-in the Greenville, NC area; Hi-Way 21 in Beaufort, SC; the Jesup in Georgia; the Ocala in Florida; King Drive in Huntsville, AL; the Lake Worth in Palm Springs, FL and the Epic Theaters of West Volusia, Florida. Of those listed, the Van Buren has since closed due to changes in local restrictions.
As for what was playing on those screens? Horror films won the box office, as it were, with The Invisible Man bringing in $36.6K across eight theaters while The Hunt came in at $36K on the same number of theaters. Disney’s Onward screened at ten theaters, bringing in $22.7K. It’s not clear which theaters will remain open this upcoming weekend nor is it clear what films they will be screening.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on theaters and the entertainment industry has been a devastating one. Over recent weeks, numerous movies have seen their release dates shuffled and delayed. Last week, Disney shifted back the majority of the films on its schedule for this summer, including a shift in the release dates for the MCU’s Phase 4. As the pandemic wears on and with theaters remaining closed, theater chains are also struggling. Earlier this week it was reported that Standard & Poors had downgraded the credit rating of AMC Theaters and noted that they do not believe that the chain has the capacity to bounce back from the damage done by the pandemic — meaning that the chain could be in danger of closing permanently.
At this point, it’s unclear when the majority of movie theaters across the country will reopen.
What do you think about the handful of theaters still open during the pandemic? Let us know in the comments below.
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