Every week that goes by, we are confronted with more news that seems to spell doom for the theatrical experience in the United States. Whether it’s an uptick in COVID-19 cases that forces more shutdowns, studios moving films to 2021, or theaters closing their doors due to lack of business, there seems to be a never-ending stream of bad news facing cinemas as they try to recover. And unfortunately, as things don’t seem to be getting any better before the end of 2020, it appears that a large majority of small and mid-sized theaters in the US face the very real possibility of going out of business.
Speaking to Variety, National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) boss, John Fithian, painted a grim picture of what the future might look like if the current US government regime doesn’t pass a new stimulus bill that could help cinemas.
“Even though we’re allowed to open in 48 states, without a substantial slate of big movies, and with people still worried about the virus, our revenues have been decimated,” the NATO head said. “We’re losing money while operating. And we were shut down entirely for many, many months. It’s life or death for many, many, many theater companies.”
Before people start to question the motives behind NATO fighting for stimulus for theater owners, understand that the group is only looking to help the smaller companies. The large chains are on their own. And as mentioned, this is something that needs to happen now and can’t wait for President-Elect Joe Biden to take office in 2021.
“A significant percentage of our members — probably around 70% of our mid and small sized members — will either confront bankruptcy reorganization or the likelihood of going out of business entirely by sometime in January,” Fithian Said. “That’s assuming we don’t see a big uptick in business, but on our current trajectory things are looking very bad… It’s that desperate. If that doesn’t happen, we’ll keep pushing for something in February, but a lot of companies will have gone bankrupt by that point.”
So, is there anything that people can do to help? Well, Fithian thinks that anyone with a voice should speak up and try to encourage others to do the same. In no uncertain terms, the fate of the theatrical experience depends on it.
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He said, “Look, I encourage everyone in the entertainment industry who cares about the survival of movie theaters to speak out. They should speak out. There’s always more that people can do.”
As of now, the next big blockbuster isn’t until Christmas, when “Wonder Woman 1984” hits theaters. But most assume that will be changing shortly. And if it does, who knows what the industry is going to do?