"Cineworld closes all cinemas" Topic

UK and USA – all closing due to the pandemic.

Combination of Covid requirements, lack of audience and lack of major (i.e. big budget action) films. The last 2 may be somewhat connected.

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And this didn't take long:

ODEON group to open 25% of their Cinemas at the weekend only

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turn them into wargaming facilities?

As Yogi Berra said in a different context, "If the people don't want to come out to the ballpark, nobody's going to stop them."

My not going to the movie theatre goes way back, before Covid. There was nothing worth paying $10 USD (or more) for a ticket, $15 USD for popcorn and soda, sitting in the dark until the trailers showed up that had all the good scenes in them, etc.
Not quite as bad as going to an NFL game, but the principle is the same. It's a better experience at home.

Attendance was down for all forms of entertainment long before the Plague struck.

Can't speak for the USA, but in the UK cinema has undergone a huge rise in popularity in recent years. So much so that 2018 and 2019 were both record years, seeing the largest audience numbers since the late 1960s-early 1970s.

Even with the lack of "big box office" films there are at least three or four films I'd have liked to have seen on a big screen since UK Cinemas reopened in September.

Trial of the Chicago Seven looks very good.

Still prefer to see films on a big screen – I can't fit a 50foot by 30foot screen in my home.

Time to bring back the drive-in!

Stay social distanced in your hermetically sealed cocoon out in a field. Order a popcorn on your phone and we'll drone it to you.

I have fond reminiscences … Imagine the opening rebel ship/eternally long imperial cruiser scene of Star Wars set against a perfect starry sky.

Funnily there has been an attempt in the UK to run Drive-Ins.

Mostly in unglamorous car parks. But since I don't have a convertible…..and sometimes it rains….and…