AMC A-List & other theater subscriptions (2 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

Then pray for the art of movies because if the future depends on people renting all new movies, it's completely over for everything except movies in existing franchises. They won't even take a chance on creating new franchises.

I didn't say the movie theater business will disappear entirely, but there will be a hit business-wise which means less theaters. As to your assertion that new franchises won't be created, I think you're wrong there.

 

[EricSchulz]

I'm sure the theaters will experience the same hesitation that large attractions and airlines did after 9/11. There will be those that either permanently or temporarily stop going "because it could happen again" and those that will go because "I can't live my life in fear."

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Will anyone here ever feel comfortable in a packed movie theater again?

I won’t.

So you'll never be willing to go into any kind of crowd again?

I think a very small percentage of people will take that path - the same people who probably still won't fly due to 9/11 - but 99.9% of the world will go back to standard practices...

 

[Jason_V]

I disagree Travis. This is nothing like the Batman shooting. This virus has traumatized the moviegoing public and I don’t think it will ever be the same.

It's traumatized the public in general. However, once it's contained and it's not in the news every single second of every day, it will recede from the general public's memory and people will go back to doing what they did beforehand. Same for any activity where people get together in large numbers...county fairs, theme parks, airports, cruises, etc. We've seen it over and over again. After the Great Recession and everyone said they wouldn't use credit and they'd save money and live below their means...guess what happened? People bought overpriced houses with mortgages they can't possibly afford if there's a change in income. We ran up the collective credit card debt again and no one saved the money they should have.

In other words, right back to the status quo.

 

[Tino]

So you'll never be willing to go into any kind of crowd again?

I think a very small percentage of people will take that path - the same people who probably still won't fly due to 9/11 - but 99.9% of the world will go back to standard practices...

Again. I disagree.

 

[Tino]

So you'll never be willing to go into any kind of crowd again?

I didn’t say that.

I said I wouldn’t be comfortable.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

It's traumatized the public in general. However, once it's contained and it's not in the news every single second of every day, it will recede from the general public's memory and people will go back to doing what they did beforehand. Same for any activity where people get together in large numbers...county fairs, theme parks, airports, cruises, etc. We've seen it over and over again. After the Great Recession and everyone said they wouldn't use credit and they'd save money and live below their means...guess what happened? People bought overpriced houses with mortgages they can't possibly afford if there's a change in income. We ran up the collective credit card debt again and no one saved the money they should have.

In other words, right back to the status quo.

Exactly. I won't say there's no event so cataclysmic that it wouldn't dramatically change the status quo, but unless COVID turns out to be much worse than anticipated, it's not likely to be that event.

After 9/11, people predicted big, violent action movies were kaput, as no one could see fantasy flicks that touched on subjects now too real.

How long did that last, like 6 months?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Again. I disagree.

Your right. I think you ignore millennia of human experiences, though.

Spanish Flu wiped out 10s of millions - did that dramatically alter the way people interact?

 

[Tino]

I think you ignore millennia of human experiences, though.

I certainly don’t.

I just feel this pandemic is unprecedented in our age and can’t be compared to previous events. We are in uncharted territory.

Again, in my opinion. I hope I’m wrong about everything.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I certainly don’t.

I just feel this pandemic is unprecedented in our age and can’t be compared to previous events. We are in uncharted territory.

Again, in my opinion. I hope I’m wrong about everything.

The world circa 1914-1919 went through a massive war and a mind-boggling pandemic. 10 years later we went through a worldwide economic depression, and then 10 years later, another massive war.

None of these events changed society to the degree you seem to envision. Again, it's possible COVID ends up being worse than all that, but man, it's hard to imagine it being worse than the double-whammy of WWI and Spanish flu!

 

[Tino]

The world circa 1914-1919 went through a massive war and a mind-boggling pandemic. 10 years later we went through a worldwide economic depression, and then 10 years later, another massive war.

None of these events changed society to the degree you seem to envision. Again, it's possible COVID ends up being worse than all that, but man, it's hard to imagine it being worse than the double-whammy of WWI and Spanish flu!

I hope you’re right.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I hope you’re right.

I do as well!

As I implied, I can't see the future, so I have no idea where COVID will lead us. It could end up being an imposition of 2-3 months, or we could be stuck with self-containment for a year+ - who knows?

I just can't help but feel that if the world bounced back to normalcy after WWI and the Spanish flu - and did so pretty quickly - then barring a truly apocalyptic outcome from COVID, it seems tough for me to envision permanent effects on society.

Hey, maybe we'll all get so used to washing hands that we'll be much cleaner as a whole!

 

[Tino]

The world is a different place now than it was 100 years ago. People act and react differently. That’s why I said we are in uncharted territory and cannot use the past as a prediction for the future.

 

[TravisR]

After 9/11, people predicted big, violent action movies were kaput, as no one could see fantasy flicks that touched on subjects now too real.

No one was going to laugh again so comedy was done too. And they were right, there hasn't been any comedies at the movies or on TV since September 10, 2001.

 

[Wayne_j]

I'm still more afraid being a cashier at a pharmacy having to come face to face with hundreds of customers a day than I am in a third full movie theater.

 

[Tino]

No one was going to laugh again so comedy was done too. And they were right, there hasn't been any comedies at the movies or on TV since September 10, 2001.

Again. This is unprecedented.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

No one was going to laugh again so comedy was done too. And they were right, there hasn't been any comedies at the movies or on TV since September 10, 2001.

In my memory, the thought was that we'd only have light, uplifting fare, so rom-coms would do great.

I don't recall the belief comedies would go away - just that people would have no appetite for stuff like "Independence Day" when the destruction of buildings was now real to us...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'm still more afraid being a cashier at a pharmacy having to come face to face with hundreds of customers a day than I am in a third full movie theater.

Yup. I'm "interacting" with more people when I go to Target than I would if I'd gone to the movies the other day.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

The world is a different place now than it was 100 years ago. People act and react differently. That’s why I said we are in uncharted territory and cannot use the past as a prediction for the future.

Actually, that's the point of studying history: because it reveals likely future outcomes and behavior. "Past is prologue" and all that...

 

[Tino]

Actually, that's the point of studying history: because it reveals likely future outcomes and behavior. "Past is prologue" and all that...

Not in this case.