Is The Movie Theater Going Extinct? (VIDEO SCRIPT)

Oh. So just because AMC is a heartbeat away from filing bankruptcy and are doing...the ABSOLUTE most right now, you think going to the movies is over? Mmm

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Yes Readers; I said what I said. If you think that AMC Theaters throwing a little tantrum because of how Universal Studios reacted to some trolls is gonna bring about the extinction of movie theaters once this whole pandemic is over, then I got some weight loss tea to sell you that you can only find on Facebook.

That’s how you KNOW it’s real.

What’s that? You have absolutely NO IDEA what I’m talking about? Well, let me bring you up to speed.

A while back, Universal made an unprecedented move with one of their movies while other studios decided to delay the releases of their upcoming films until early and mid fall.

The move in question was to keep its release date. But instead of releasing it for theaters, they decided to release it for video on demand at $20 a rental throughout the usual digital retailers.

The movie in question was the sequel to their 2016 animated spring family film, Trolls: World Tour

No...No, I’m NOT disgusted in how I handled that pun, because it wasn’t a Dad Pun. That’s how they’re SUPPOSED to be handled. Y’all just ain’t USED to nothin’!

/Anyway, fast-forward a few weekends after the video on demand release, and we find out that Trolls: World Tour was a HUGE success. ESPECIALLY in comparison to what the 2016 original made in theaters/

This caused people and other studios to once again consider the possibility of straight to home release when it comes to some projects, and take it a bit more seriously considering the current health and safety situation happening

/So much so, that NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell announced that Universal Studios is planning on doing more paid video on demand releases along with theatrically releasing them once its safe for movie theaters to reopen for business/ Hollywood Reporter - Universal

And that made AMC Theaters BIG mad.

How big mad we talkin’?

/So big mad, that effective immediately, AMC Theaters will no longer be showing any movies from Universal Studios in their theaters whatsoever/

It was a statement made straight from the CEO of AMC himself, Adam Aron

/who states that the main reason why Universal was mentioned was because they were the first to, and I quote, contemplating a wholesale change to the status quo, and any other movie theater that is contemplating taking a route similar to the one Universal did can ALSO get the smoke/ Hollywood Reporter - AMC

The funny thing about this, however, is that the smoke AMC’s talking about is nothing but FUMES.

Joining Regal and Cinemark in the top 3 movie theater chains in America, the number one is almost 5 billion dollars in debt. And once they were forced to close down shop because of the current health and safety crisis, its unsure if they’ll even have enough money to stay afloat long enough to finish out the summer of 2020 before having to take drastic measures

B-Bankruptcy, I’m...I-I’m talking about bankruptcy

Even Regal and Cinemark -- the other members of the top 3 theater chains in America -- have been hit hard by the current crisis. Cinemark had to make drastic cuts and got themselves into $250 million in debt because of it. Every single one of them had to furlough their employees, but it’s absolutely clear that AMC is taking the biggest hit here.

So considering everything going on with AMC, what they said in that press statement wasn’t “smoke.” If anything, they were FUMES. Another reason to wear a mask when you go outside, folks.

Now outside of the fact that AMC is just being Veruca Salt after Willy Wonka said she couldn’t have a goose that laid a golden egg, people are using the big three suffering from the current health and safety crisis -- ESPECIALLY AMC -- along with the success of Trolls: World Tour as a talking point on whether or not this might be the final nail in the coffin regarding whether or not movie theaters are a dying breed. Especially if AMC keeps shooting themselves in the foot like this

Or worse: the others decide to follow suit

But the fact of the matter is, there will ALWAYS be a demand for movie theaters, whether it’s for new or previously released titles. Just like there will ALWAYS be a demand to not have to leave your home to watch a newly released movie.

As this crisis has shown us when it comes to “traditional” entertainment, there is validation on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to movies; those who want to go to an actual theater to watch them, and those who are willing to pay to see them in the comfort of their own home. And while the success of Trolls: World Tour has shown Universal and other studios that the Pro-Home crowd has some merit behind it, there are PLENTY of individuals who are quarantining that love going to the movies and actually MISS IT.

/Even the head of NBC Universal stated in their response to AMC’s foolishness that they’re looking into ways of catering to both crowds now that they’re conviced that there’s a demand for it/ Hollywood Reporter - Universal 2

If anything, the current and possibly future actions of the big three might actually be the restart the movie theater industry needs for those of us who legit miss going to the movies.

People like me.

Because I’m as-of-right-now single and don’t have any children, I’m personally not going to spend 20 dollars on a movie unless I’m paying that price to permanently own it via DVD or Blu-Ray. The most I’ve ever paid for a non-3D movie ticket is 10.

Despite my introvertedness and my homebodied nature, one of the things I love about movies is going to see them in theaters; it’s something that frankly is never going to change about me.

And because I like supporting smaller and local theater chains along with indie theaters, since it’s how they mostly stay in business, I order my usual go-to concessions from them exclusively: a medium popcorn and a Pepsi ICEE-slash-Slurpee.

Though sometimes I like to splurge and get some chicken tenders and a side of fries instead of the popcorn if I’m REALLY looking forward to watching a specific movie.

I support these theaters over the AMCs and the Regals and Cinemarks when the choice allows me, because I’ve seen first-hand how a giant megaplex chain -- AMC ironically enough -- changes the mood, feel and presence of the movie-going experience first-hand.

I was 9 when the first Star Theaters opened in Southfield, MI. Ants and Batman & Robin were the main movies everyone went to see there that summer.

Yeah, I could’ve gone to the small AMC theater at the mall my parents and I usually went to. But I realized at a young age that there were AMC’s EVERYWHERE. You had to come to MICHIGAN to experience Star Theaters.

Then the company that owned Star Theaters was bought out by AMC.

It was still Star Theaters on the outside from all the ones I went to during my college days, but everything else felt different; less unique and more of the paint-by-numbers feeling that I experienced with AMC being the only theater I had access to growing up.

But I knew that Star Theaters was over the moment I saw every one of the buildings in Michigan get completely rebranded as a traditional AMC theater.

/Then when the pandemic hit, the company used it as an opportunity to close down the one that started it all./

Albeit, Star Southfield was just 1 out of the 634 locations AMC decided to close permanently once the pandemic hit.

/Talk about the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy started soon afterward, despite the China-based Dalian Wanda Group that owns AMC saying it was just a rumor./

But for AMC’s CEO to say that the largest name in the movie theater industry is willing to cut ties with any studio that entertains the idea of doing simultaneous theatrical and PVOD releases of their movies because it promotes a “change to the status quo”

Especially after forgoing his own salary, revealing that they are almost 5 billion dollars in debt and are purposely holding off on paying rent to the property landlords their megaplexes are on -- which, by the way, is one of the most hypocritical things I have ever seen a multi-billion dollar business do in the face of this pandemic

Tells me a lot about the current state of the movie theater industry.

But because I know better, and because I know that there are multiple people out there like me who love and dare I say even CRAVE going to the movies, it mostly mostly this:

It’s not the movie theater that needs to go extinct, because movie theaters will NEVER go extinct. It’s the companies that hold them hostage that do.

Readers, if the current health and safety crisis we’re all going through has taught us ANYTHING, it’s that the status quo never stays the status quo for long. Nor does it mean that the previous practice is the BETTER practice.

If AMC wants to shoot themselves in the foot over something as trivial as this, then let them. And let them die because of it. And let any of its big name competitors that refuse to see the changes that have to be made because of what the current crisis has ushered in follow suit.

A chain as big as AMC performing seppuku as its final act of loyalty to the status quo might be just what the movie theater industry needs in order for it to actually thrive once all this blows over, by giving smaller chains and independently owned theaters more acknowledgement and allowing new ones to start.

/And I say that because, despite certain rules and regulations being put in place for everyone’s safety, there’s already evidence of it thriving in the midst of everything./

If these corporations would rather cry than change, then let them cry themselves to sleep. Forever.

But one thing we’re NOT gonna do is look at the actions of these companies that've had a stranglehold on an industry for so long and take it as a sign of the beginning of the end.

Because once all this is said and done, all it’s going to take once these once-mighty empires crumble from self-sabotage is a few individuals willing to pick up and properly distribute the pieces.

But I digress Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:

Write in the comment section which you’d rather do: Go see a new movie in theaters or stay at home

Or if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, let me know in the comment section the name of your small-chained and-slash-or independently owned movie theater. Shoutout to MJR and Emagine Theaters over here in Michigan.

Whichever one you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.