Back To The Movies

I have written recently about how one cannot be afraid of trying new things and cannot rely on the same old models when what they are based on is passing you by. At the same time, though, a company probably can’t just blow up what they have always done in the interests of, say, stopping making apple juice and moving into precision machined parts.

Movie theaters are a business that is still having to battle following the COVID-19 pandemic and a couple of worker strikes that resulted in closing some of their doors (even if some for only a time) and limited the number of new releases that they could show. An industry group, though, is now in the midst of a $2.2 billion plan to help them bounce back.

I saw this in a recent CNN article that I am not going to spend time going though all its minutiae. The highlights are that it is going to try to improve the moviegoing experience and also add other entertainment options to the venues. What this breaks down to is trying to give the consumer what can’t necessarily be found elsewhere. Yes, movies are ever more accessible through screaming services, and even new ones are showing up there faster than ever, so the need to see something you are dying to watch doesn’t have to happen in a theater anymore unless you want to endure a long wait.

But is your sound system that good?

Does your TV look that good?

Can you go bowling after the movie is over?

Of course, we aren’t talking about huge novel ideas here. It is crafting an experience, though, that is different than it was before. Even if you haven’t gone to the movies in a while, if that experience suddenly feels different, maybe it will have enough of a twist to bring you back again – and ideally bring people back in greater numbers.

And just maybe this then is one of those pieces of thinking that can keep an old industry moving toward new models and renewed success. 

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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