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Fortune Magazine predicted that the box office reached $11.4 billion compared to the nearly $11.9 billion in 2018, which is a four percent drop. Ticket sales were down nationally in 2019, despite 2018 being a record-breaking year for box offices. In 2018, there were 5,803 theaters - a 23 percent drop.

According to the National Association of Theater Owners, there were 7,477 theaters nationwide in 1999. West End Cinema hasn’t been the only theater experiencing these problems.

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With so many streaming services full of high-end content, including mainstream and specialty films, Levin said audiences no longer have the need to go to theaters. At the end of the night, Levin said, many young people don’t think spending that money is worth it.Īnother reason why independent theaters are struggling is because of today’s digital revolution, Levin said. Ticket prices have increased, and once you’ve purchased a ticket, you can’t help but buy concessions, Levin said. “If you ask young people today if it’s convenient to go out and see a movie, they’ll say no,” Levin argued. Levin said there has been a change in the perceived affordability of seeing films in a theater. Neighborhood theaters have the ability to screen films that fit the neighborhood’s demographic, Levin said, and he wanted to do just that.īut Levin said his audience was mostly “gray-haired.” After operating for five years, West End Cinema closed on March 29, 2015. Levin focused on coordinating screenings with foreign language groups to show international films for D.C.’s prominent international community.

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When he opened his movie theater in Georgetown, Levin said he wanted to draw in a diverse audience of university students, African American patrons and foreign language speakers. The motto for West End Cinema was “All Stories Told Here.” He wanted to feature “specialty films,” or films beyond those shown in mainstream venues. Levin noticed these fewer choices, and he decided to open his own movie house, West End Cinema, in 2010. As theaters have closed down, the variety has decreased, and there is less value in choice, Headley said. Today, Regal Cinemas, AMC Theatres and other exhibition corporations dominate screenings and show the same movies.

Independent theaters were the venues that would show “unusual” movies like foreign films or local projects. Local theaters started disappearing in the 1950s, Headley explained. “These used-to-be theaters were places for neighbors to meet and where audiences could get more choice of what films to see,” “These places were, for so long, the cultural life of the city,” Headley said. “All of these places that are meaningful … they’re gone.”īob Headley, co-author of the book “ Movie Theaters of Washington, D.C.,” which details the history of bygone theaters, had a similar sense of pessimism about the loss of these neighborhood relics. “I was driving past the MacArthur Theater, and I saw that it had become a CVS,” he said with a shake of his head. Levin has seen theaters disappear while living in the District. “I’ve been in the neighborhood for 25 years,” Kempner said.

She said independent theaters have the important role of keeping their neighborhoods entertained and educated. Many of Kempner’s films are screened at the Avalon. Without local theaters, “we lose our identity,” Levin said, and the community becomes separated from culture.Īviva Kempner, a local historical documentary filmmaker, lives near the Avalon and was relieved to see it saved. The District used to have over 100 local theaters, but today, the Avalon Theatre is only one of two locally run, full-time movie houses. theaters weren’t lucky enough to be revived like the Avalon.

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