Elaine Richardson

What goes up must come down, they say, and in the movie theater business, which had, since 1995, been enjoying an unprecedented boom, the last year has been all about down.

Six of the major chains operating in the United States, three of which operate theaters in Chicago, have filed for bankruptcy protection. Two of those, General Cinema and LoewsCineplex Entertainment (LCE) have begun a wave of closures, with more than 100 screens shuttered in the metro area -- so far. The Meridian Entertainment Group, which purchased seven theaters from Loews in 1999 as part of a U.S. Department of Justice-ordered antitrust divestment, has closed all but one of those theaters, is barely operating the Hyde Park and is, reportedly, also considering bankruptcy. Silver Cinemas, parent company of the Landmark arthouse chain, went into Chapter 11 reorganization in 2000 and is still completing that process.

And though there are new theaters on the city docket, they're liable to arrive more slowly than originally anticipated, especially considering that the Chicago area has seen theater expansion of two to three new complexes, if not necessarily new chains, per year. In 2000 there were deluxe debutantes from two chains new to the area -- Landmark opened the North Side Century Centre Cinemas and the Renaissance Place Cinemas in Highland Park, while Century Theaters hit the North Shore with the opening of the Century 12 and CineArts 6 in Evanston. But Century, which originally announced the opening of its new sixteen-screen theater at the under-construction Grand Pier development for 2001, is now indicating it as a 2002 opening. (An opening for a South Side Century, targeted for 2002, is off the current schedule.) AMC, which operates a pair of thirtyplexes in the suburbs and will now move into the city in late (rather than early) 2002 with a twenty-screen multiplex at the new River East development (nearly across the street from the Century site in Streeterville), has announced the closing of 300 screens, at the rate of seventy to eighty per year throughout the next four years.

But, AMC clarifies, this is less about financial ripples and more about closing unprofitable, older theaters. And that's the thing to understand about the current state of the film business in Chicago and nationwide as well. As demand has moved toward big screens, big auditoriums and stadium seating, the cookie-cutters thrown up in the late eighties are losing out. These "are older-style multiplex screens that have lost customer traffic to the popular, newer-style megaplex screens that feature stadium seating, bigger screens, plusher seat and other amenities," AMC says.

"It's a nationwide trend," says General Cinemas' Brian Callaghan, who notes that GC closed a number of theaters when it declared Chapter 11 in October -- including the Chicago area Lakehurst, Deerbrook and Lincoln Mall. "There had been tremendous building between 1995 and 2000. In 1989 there were 22,000 movie screens in the United States. Last year there was a total of 37,000 screens -- a 75 percent increase in the number of screens. The number of people going to the movies is up, but not up by 75 percent, and now you're spread over more locations."

Which is how a chain like LoewsCineplex, which had major financial troubles before its mid-February acquisition by fiber optics kingpin Gerald Schwartz, can justify closing 167 Chicago area screens despite building two large megaplexes (Streets of Woodfield and Woodridge 18) in the suburbs. And the dearly departed theaters all fit this bill -- from the Biograph to the Broadway. From GC's three-screen Deerbrook to LCE's Fine Arts, a much beloved and much neglected theater, closed, says Vice President for Strategic Planning Mindy Tucker, due to competition from the new, state-of-the-art Landmark and the expectation of competition from the new Century and AMC theaters. Look for the 900 North Michigan to fall victim to the same fate later this year.

A chain's "smaller, older theaters are having to compete with these theaters for profit, while at the same time [the chain is] spending millions building state-of-the-art new complexes," Callaghan says. "More people want good sound and big screens and the small theaters can't offer the same movie experience so they're being pushed out."

And, in that sense, the situation perhaps isn't so bad. After all, people are getting more of what they want. "We've certainly made a huge dent in the market," says Brian Ross, manager of the Landmark Century Centre Cinemas. "We've built our customer base and we see more and more repeaters. We just want to offer people the best viewing experience in the city. People really seem to enjoy visiting here."

In terms of competition, Ross notes that they have "played" well with the Music Box, which continues to thrive, and that they see main competition in Pipers Alley -- as LoewsCineplex, despite financial woes, still manages to hold heavy clout in booking. Callaghan concurs as the General Cinemas' City North 14, the first state-of-the-art megaplex in the city, finds itself unable to score big new films, which go to the nearby Webster Place, and some art films, which have gone to the Landmark. "We're in competitive zone," Callaghan says. "You've got three strong players and we don't always get the films."

But Ross says just because newer theaters offer up-to-date facilities with amenities customers want, doesn't mean they're forcing smaller, older theaters out -- they're forcing them to update and compete.

"It's really a matter of the changing standard in the industry," he says. "The Fine Arts was just kind of there. I don't think our theater closed them."

But where is this all headed?
Obviously moviehouses, once plentiful and densely located, are contracting, which will make the trip around the corner a thing of the past. Theaters will certainly continue to be built, albeit at a slower, steadier pace. But as the chains try to reorganize from all of their overly ambitious visions, will many survive?

Perhaps. What we may find even more is these chains purchased by those whose first priority isn't necessarily film. Remember, when Loews divested thirty-one of its Manhattan and New York suburban theaters in 1999, they were sold not to another chain or aspiring moviehouse group, but to Cablevision. The Long Island-based conglomerate owns Bravo, the Independent Film Channel, American Movie Classics, sports teams and Madison Square Garden, and had a vision of the theaters as a way for the owners to extend awareness -- using them to play advertising for their company and programs prior to the films.

With the advent of digital video and the incremental move toward distributing and displaying film on a form of high definition video (rather than shining light through silver-coated celluloid) comes an opportunity for those involved in digital technology to use theaters in much different ways -- whether it's offering TV programming or interactive chats before films to showing special cuts and versions. In fact, some theaters on the West Coast already rent auditoriums by day for corporate teleconferencing, and surely the anticipation of say, the final episode of "Friends" being offered as a pay-per-view multiplex exclusive, is dancing merrily in the minds of the next generation of entrepreneurs who acquire bankrupted theatres without the financial burden of prior corporate mistakes on their balance sheets.

"It would save the studios the cost of making 2,500 or 3,000 copies of a movie on actual film. With digital you just upload it to a satellite and beam it down," says Callaghan, simplifying an intricate technical process that would incorporate still unperfected encryption processes. As with experiments in New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles, GC has installed one digital projector in a Boston theater on which they've shown films like "The Perfect Storm," "Dinosaur" and "Fantasia 2000" in digital format. "The quality of the picture is so much better; there's no degradation of image quality -- the more you watch something the more things tend to degrade -- there's no little flecks, lines and scratches. And while some people will feel it's not really film, there are some films you want a really clear picture for and with digital you get it."

But, Callaghan says, don't expect it right away. "There's still people experimenting and no one wants to move forward with this until we have one technology that's going to be the standard. We don't want to get into the situation with the video industry where we had video and Beta," he says, noting that this will be fairly expensive and, thanks to the current financial picture of virtually all of the chains, slow. "There's not going to be a lot of money invested in experimental technology without a lot of payback. And right now there's a lot of people in accounting looking for a way to pay for this."

(2001-03-22)

Also by Elaine Richardson

BAD BAD THINGS
The bottom line is I don't really care about what his life is like, who's in his band or what they do with their time. And if I did, it wouldn't be for a show that runs an hour (that's a cable hour, so no commercials) every week.
(2001-03-15)

GHOST TOWN
Never a bastion of decorating excellence, the confines of the once-great cheapo bookseller, Crown Books, were, at one time anyway, at least welcoming. But you've never seen a going-out-of-business sale look so threatening.
(2001-03-15)

MIDSEASON SHUFFLE
Want a fun waste of time? Lay out the grids from the start of the fall season and compare them to what remains on the network rosters -- it's difficult to miss the sight of blood in the water.
(2001-03-08)

HARSH REALM
"The Sopranos" hits this season with a host of problems, not the least of which is the very sad death of actress Nancy Marchand, whose turn as Tony Soprano's (the ever excellent James Gandolfini) agonized--and agonizing--mother Livia helped to make this show's original run so remarkable. Without her, Tony's mother conflict is automatically relegated into flashback--no new fodder for Tony's shrink sessions.
(2001-03-01)

THE HORROR
(2001-02-01)

WINTER WONDERS
(2001-02-01)

SPIKED
(2001-01-11)

FLAKING OUT
(2000-12-28)

IRRESOLUTIONS
(2000-12-21)

VIDEO ZONE
(2000-12-21)

ON LINE
(2000-11-30)

EASY MONEY?
(2000-11-23)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment