Everyone loves the feeling of going to the theater for a summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, due to theater closures, this will be a different summer. Oddly, more and more movies are going to video on demand (VOD). One wonders how upcoming blockbusters like Black Widow or Wonder Woman could be affected by this change. There are many questions to ask, including what the current financial situations of the theaters are.
AMC Theaters has been hit incredibly hard with the current COVID-19 outbreak. They shut down all of their locations, and they have furloughed or laid off over 26,000 employees, including the 600 members of the company’s corporate staff. Luckily, the furloughed employees will keep their benefits, but thousands laid off spells disaster. The numbers are grim as independent theaters and AMC are projected to lose billions. Additionally, studios face a massive loss on various projects slated for the upcoming months.
Who knows if films like Black Widow and Wonder Woman, two films with massive budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars, will make their new release dates. These movies probably wouldn't do as well on VOD as in a theater, which is why both films have been pushed back. It's highly doubtful during this time that many people have these films on their minds, and they are generally best experienced in a theater environment anyway. An IMAX theater is a perfect example. This fully integrates the viewer in the action using its visual and sound design.
For some films, the IMAX experience is essential. A lot of people have seen the difference between a film put on at a regular theater and a film made for IMAX. The films have a certain crispy quality to them; the sound quality is heightened and surrounds the audience. Most importantly, and visually apparent, are the circular screens intended to draw the audience into the action. Some movies are intended to be experienced in this way, like the Dark Knight trilogy. Funny enough, Christopher Nolan has been one of the directors who has been advocating for the theater industry.
Christopher Nolan has been incredibly supportive of the film industry’s struggling situation, even going so far as to write an op-ed in The Washington Post pleading for the government to intervene. He discusses the various benefits of the theater, most importantly the human connection rather than the financial contribution theaters bring to the economy. For over a decade, Nolan’s movies have been filmed with IMAX’s specialized cameras, and his films are larger than life. So, they should be experienced in such a way that highlights this experience. These cameras have a higher resolution than the standard 35mm which is more attractive to the audience
When the audience is drawn in with IMAX’S unique screens, the action and stakes appear more realistic. Crisper imagery contributes to this immensely, financial and artistic losses aside. It’s also the underlying issue of social connectivity. We’d lose the feeling of going to the theater with friends on a summer night to watch something everyone has been anticipating for a long time. It takes this human tradition away and replaces it with a home event to which you may or may not even pay attention. Instead of waiting to use the bathroom, fearful of missing a scene, you can constantly pause the movie, but this will break up all those white-knuckle moments that are best experienced in a theater.
Hopefully, people in power will consider Christopher Nolan’s op-ed. Movie theaters have an important place all around the world. Financially and socially, the theater experience is a human experience that’s stuck with us for a long time. It would be a shame to lose that feeling of going to that big, anticipated blockbuster on a summer night, not to mention the financial hardship every employee would face, with furloughing being the best-case scenario. Considering some of these movies were filmed with the experience of a theater in mind, this predicts great changes indeed for entertainment.