By Marty Cooper
The movie business is in trouble. But it’s not as bad as you think.
The COVID-19 shutdown, which began in late 2019, forced hundreds of theaters out of business.
The 2023 writers’ strike of 148 days and the actors’ strike of 118 days caused major interruption to film production and negatively impacted the availability of product for movie houses.
The increased quality of streaming services’ fare and the continuing entry of new streamers was another blow to theaters.
The impending acquisition of the Burbank-based Warner Bros. by Paramount Pictures will cause further shrinkage of theatrical product, some writers have predicted.
Of all of these, COVID was the most impactful.
During the 2020-2022 period, the industry lost over 2,000 screens during the pandemic, many smaller operators and some chains permanently closed locations, and at one point in 2020 most U.S. theaters were fully shut down for many months on end; all theaters closed countywide in March 2020 by public health order.
Those closures lasted about a full year in Los Angeles County, longer than most U.S. markets. Permanent closures included ArcLight Cinemas (all locations, including Hollywood and Sherman Oaks; Pacific Theatres (including The Grove, Glendale, Winnetka); and Landmark and Laemmle locations (some closures, some reopenings).
Just before COVID, there were about 41,000 movie screens in the U.S., spread across about 5,000–5,500 theater locations.
Today there are about 31,000–32,000 screens represented by the industry trade group, which represents a loss of about 10,000 screens, or about 20–25 percent the pre-COVID peak.
What does this all mean? The number of physical theaters has declined, but not catastrophically. The bigger shift is consolidation: There are fewer theater operators and many of them have closed weaker locations and shifted their investments to premium, higher-revenue screens. Even major chains such as AMC have closed underperforming sites while upgrading others.
There is no single official count of theaters at the county or San Fernando Valley level but industry reports, reopening data, and known theater announcements, provide a solid estimate of what was lost in Los Angeles County and the San Fernando Valley.
Today there are an estimated 140–170 theater locations remaining in L.A. County, with fewer independents but the survival of large chains (AMC being dominant) and strong niche theaters, such as revival houses and premium venues.
Before COVID there were about 35–45 theater locations in the Valley, including: Burbank (AMC 16, 8, 6 cluster); Universal CityWalk; Sherman Oaks Galleria; Porter Ranch Northridge; and Woodland Hills.
There is no doubt that Netflix (70–75 million subscribers), Disney+ (45–50 million), Amazon Prime Video (30–35 million), HBO Max (35–40 million), and Hulu (25–28 million) have significantly impacted theater-going. But big films such as this year’s Frankenstein, A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, Jurassic World: Rebirth, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Zootopia 2 attract large theater audiences.
While the writers’ and actors’ strikes caused production disruption and individual impacts on members of the two unions, few movie houses were impacted by them.
The writers’ strike (May–Sept 2023) and actors’ strike (July–Nov 2023) primarily halted production of new films and TV shows, affecting script development, filming, and promotion, but existing films and theatrical releases were largely unaffected.
Multiplexes and independents in the San Fernando Valley remained open for all scheduled showings during both strikes, and of course, there were no mandated closures issued, unlike the 2020–2021 COVID-19 shutdowns.
Movie theaters continued normal operations during 2023 and several blockbusters were released prior to or during the strikes kept theaters full. During the strikes films such as Barbie, Oppenheimer and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, kept screens full.
As far as the Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros., senior management of Paramount promises that each studio will release 15 films each year. Those pre-nuptial corporate promises are rarely kept, but that remains to be seen.
The bottom line: If filmmakers make good films – particularly “event” films – people will be willing to get off their sofas, drive to a theater, and enjoy the movie-going experience.
A Personal Note: After more than three years of researching and writing, my fifth book, The ‘Reel’ Hollywood: The San Fernando Valley, was just published. It’s the story of motion pictures in the Valley over the last 125 years. The soft cover is available on Amazon now with the hard cover to come in about a week. It should also be appearing in book stores shortly. Since all the profits are going to the Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley, I have no hesitation in asking you to purchase a copy and leave a review on Amazon.
Martin Cooper, President of Cooper Communications, supervised PR for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for 10 years; held executive positions with Disney and Universal Studios; and was Board Chairman of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. He is a member of the Board of the British Film Institute in America. Cooper is a Fernando Award Honoree and Past Chairman of VICA. An award-winning author, he has written four books, two of them on the San Fernando Valley.
