Movie Theatres Begin To Bounce Back Four Years After COVID Pandemic
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — In the past few years, audiences have started returning to movie theaters in droves, even in this digital age of streaming.
KVRR’s TJ Nelson talked with the CEO of Marcus Theaters to get the pulse of the industry.
“Hi. I’m Greg Marcus and I want to welcome you to Marcus Theatres.”
If you’ve watched a movie at a Marcus Theatre, odds are you have seen the 3rd generation CEO of the company giving you a personal and at times comedic welcome.
“Right at our fingertips. Ow!”
But there was nothing funny about the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down theaters around the world for months. Four years later is it back to business as usual?
“Well I’m not saying we’re back to normal. Between the pandemic and the strikes we’ve had our challenges,” said Marcus.
The box office dropped from $11 billion in 2019 to just $2 billion in 2020. It came roaring back last year with nearly $9 billion thanks to mega hits like “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie”.
“When there are movies people show up and they show up in droves. Whether it was “Barbie” last summer or a bunch of great Christmas movies over Christmas or “Dune 2” or coming into this summer how many people saw “Deadpool” and loved it, people saw “Inside Out 2” and loved it, I know I did, “Quite Place”, you know they come up with these movies and people show up.”
The economy remains an issue for movie theaters. But Marcus sees some of its biggest audiences on it’s discounted movie nights.
“Tuesday night’s are our discount night and we offer significantly discounted price and free popcorn so the moviegoing is always affordable to as many people as we can get it to be.”
Another way to save money: Marcus offers $7 matinees for seniors and kids, seven days a week before 4 p.m.
Marcus Theatres is number five by size among movie companies with 91 locations.
The company also owns or manages a number of hotels and resorts.
