We’ve all witnessed covid-19’s terrible impact on the economy, especially restaurants, bars, and, well, you name it. One thing uniquely hit, literally silenced, are small-town movie theaters that have long struggled to stay in business.

People in my community are feeling this. The Guthrie Theatre, which has operated in downtown Grove City since 1927, was saved a couple years ago by the intervention of Grove City College alum Spencer Folmar, a film director/producer who stepped up big-time with a plan and strategy, backed by local passion and donations to help out. He renovated the theater from top to bottom. He even opened a restaurant across the street called The Cinema Grille, which, once covid-19 hit, closed mere weeks after opening its doors. Now The Guthrie is in trouble, as are theaters across America. The Guthrie’s struggle is a microcosm.

As a specific example of how the theater business was impacted immediately, it takes a minimum of three months to bring to screen a major studio wide-release film (the bread and butter of theaters), and one of the first such films planned just as the lockdown hit was the new James Bond flick. For small theaters in Pennsylvania, that movie had been booked, was being promoted, and then, with the lockdown in March, was pushed to April, then November, and now likely will not show until 2021. Without new releases, small independent movie houses are very difficult to sustain.

Folmar says that it was predicted at the beginning of the pandemic that roughly a quarter of America’s 5,500 movie theaters may close due to state restrictions, reticence among moviegoers and the lack of new releases. It’s now estimated that a third may never open again. (Of course, this hurts not only small theaters but also the major chains, such as AMC, Regal.)

Pandemic aside, other recent developments this past year have further exacerbated a dire situation.

AMC and Universal Studios agreed to shorten their theatrical window from three months (the traditional window) to only three weeks. For theaters, this has removed the competitive advantage of seeing a movie on the big screen versus viewers waiting until it’s available at home. Many viewers weren’t willing to wait three months, but they’re willing to wait three weeks, especially given fears over the virus.

At the legislative level, the U.S. Department of Justice allowed the 1948 United States vs. Paramount Pictures Inc. ruling to expire and sunset, thereby allowing major studios (Disney/Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros., Universal, and Sony) to purchase theater chains and re-create monopolies without allowing so-called “indie” theaters the opportunity to show their films.

Likewise not helping small-town theaters was Disney announcing that the much-anticipated (and much delayed) “Mulan,” which was set to release in theaters in March 2020, will, alas, now only be available on Disney+, the company’s subscriber-based streaming platform. The film will stream at a pay-per-view premium price, rather than allowing theaters to show the film. This has eliminated the chances of the theatrical business reaping any profits from a blockbuster film at a time when revenues are desperately lacking. As CNBC put it, this is a “big blow” to cinema owners.

These developments have taken place just in this past year. “Even with the legal changes and agreements amongst studios and theaters, this would make it a historic year and a fight for survival,” notes Folmar, “but add on top covid-19 and audience concern about going out in public or businesses being unable to operate due to covid-19 state restrictions, and it makes the business almost completely untenable.”

It sure does.

Little theaters like The Guthrie have been the heart of Main Streets for decades. There were once thousands of them, then hundreds, and now, maybe dozens. Precious few have hung on, surviving everything from TV to HBO to video stores to computers to Netflix. But they may not survive covid-19.

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