It's The Theater, Stupid

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 17, 2005 4:05PM

Entertainment writers can pen only so many stories about declining box office receipts before the schadenfreude goes stale. As the summer winds down, some are wondering if it’s the medium of the movies that needs changing, not the message.

Today’s New York Times features an article about the Vegasizing of the moviegoing experience by small companies like Muvico Theaters. Instead of going for a cheaper experience, they’re moving towards higher ticket prices with more amenities like valet parking, liquor and full meals.

While this isn’t a new trend—local theaters like the Evanston’s Century CineArts 6 and Lombard’s AMC Yorktown Premium Cinema have been offering upscale offerings for a couple years now—the efforts to create a chain of these theaters is. While AMC and Loews focus on film projection, Muvico is creating theme park-like theaters that revolve around the décor of the 1950s or an ancient Egyptian temple. Muvico’s president said that they are currently negotiating to bring the chain to Chicago. If the AMC-Loews merger goes through, we wonder if the company will convert one of their existing theaters (the Esquire perhaps?) to beat Muvico to the punch.

Earlier this month, Newsweek ran a similar story on the efforts of movie theaters to pull in an increasingly adult audience that’s more likely to skip the cineplex and cozy up to the Tivo on a Saturday night instead. Teenagers have scads of disposable income so studios are obsessed with getting them into the multiplexes for opening weekend to get that “number one movie in America” buzz. But theater owners are betting that adults and families are a better target audience in the long run and will be more willing to pay for kid-free screening rooms, reserved seating, and small plates dining. Chicagoist hopes they add cell phone jammers too. Of course, there are cheaper ways to get people in the seats and we talked about that here.