Kayelyn McCaslin
Reporter
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll globally in many aspects, most notably the entertainment industry.
The outbreak has posed serious risks to the public’s health and safety, the economy, the labor force and the education system; however, as citizens try to progress through day-to-day life while in a national pandemic, sources of entertainment are frequently changing in order to keep pace with the ever-changing lives of movie-goers.
The largest movie theater chain in the U.S., AMC, closed all of its theaters in response to national guidelines released to protect citizens from coronavirus on March 18, 2020. This decision was necessary in order to maintain social distancing and limiting contact with the virus. Yet as with various other businesses, including JCPenney’s and Stein Mart AMC was hit with the looming possibility of filing for bankruptcy. Reportedly, the chain did end up shutting down about 1,000 theaters as well as laying off 600 employees.
“For sure, [AMC shutting down] was the safest thing to do at the time. I ended up using Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime a lot more than I used to as a way to keep watching movies, though,” said junior Lane Odom when asked about his thoughts on the closing.
This is the typical response for families looking for entertainment in a COVID-19 world. Streaming services took the spotlight during the national quarantine, offering deals and gaining more subscriptions as bored patrons stuck in their homes felt obliged to watch something.
While the threat of at-home streaming services eventually surpassing movie theaters is a relatively new idea, during the COVID-19 pandemic the possibility of platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu outperforming local cinemas does not seem as unlikely as it did before. The only thing stopping streaming services from becoming the mainstream source of movie-watching is production.
No matter how one goes about watching movies, the root source of their entertainment is drawn from Hollywood production companies. With empty sets and cast and crew quarantined away from film-making, multiple movie release dates were rescheduled. Streaming services and theaters alike would eventually run out of new content to supply.
The COVID-19 outbreak put the entertainment industry, modern-day necessity, on a tightrope looming over failure. Had “every-day life” not gone back to normal as it has in the past month, the industry would have bit the dust sooner or later.
Nevertheless, as of mid-August AMC theaters have reopened for business, providing low-prices in order to draw customers who are timid with the new health guidelines. Locally, AMC Classic Dyersburg 9 has reopened as well with at least eight titles for movie-goers to choose from.
“I have already been there twice, actually. I went to go see Christopher Nolan’s new movie, Tenet,” said Odom.
The public will have to keep their eyes peeled for the latest 2020 films at their local AMC theaters.
Photos by Kayelyn McCaslin
The empty AMC theater may soon re-populate.
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