Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Covid Chronicles. Chapter 79: Movie Box Office Takes a Beating

 
Read chapter 78 here



Wednesday, October 28, 2020  


It’s been months since JoAnna and I went out to see a movie. Probably in January, when we made an effort to see the likely Oscar contenders. Marcus Theaters reopened its two Madison-area metroplexes in late August, the 15-screen Point Cinema on Madison’s far-west side (shown above) and 14-screen Palace Cinema in Sun Prairie, with disappointing results. 



Hollywood banked on the release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet to put lots of fannies in the seat, but even this highly-anticipated movie couldn’t lure people back. Right now Marcus theater chain, as well as everyone else in the business, is scraping by on a reduced schedule with a mix of unheralded new releases and Halloween/horror themed fare (the original Halloween, The Addams Family, Casper, The Lost Boys). The results, as you can see from Box Office Mojo’s report for the weekend of October 23-25, are not pretty. At Marcus theaters, movies are shown four days a week – Friday through Sunday and on Tuesdays, when cut-rate prices are traditionally in effect. On the other hand, the owners of the 18-screen NewVisions (formerly AMC) multiplex in suburban Fitchburg, shown below, permanently closed in July. For purveyors of entertainment, it’s been a brutal year. 



November 1, 2023.

Here's a graphic that shows how much of a beating the 2020 movie box office took.

Source:  Box Office Mojo


 

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