Movie theatersWill Movie Theaters Survive COVID-19?

Published 4 June 2020

COVID-19 has exacerbated longstanding issues that have been shaping the economics of movie exhibition for some time. Independent theaters and smaller chains were already struggling after the transition to digital projection a decade ago and increased competition from mobile devices and streaming platforms. We’ve seen the impact of that decline recently with the bankruptcy of Goodrich Quality Theaters, a Midwest-based chain. Even some of the big chains like AMC might not survive if COVID-19 keeps moviegoers out of theaters into the fall and winter,” says Derek Long, aprofessor of media and cinema studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Regardless of what eventually happens with the virus, exhibitors will be forced to find new ways of making the theatrical experience appealing. Theaters and moviegoing won’t disappear. But they could look very different.”