Movie Theaters Are Making A Comeback!

Within the last year, there have been so many popular movies in theaters. In the last month itself, people have populated theaters to see films from Wicked to Nosferatu. I’ve seen people posting all over social media about their theater experiences and even creating trends based on going to the movie theater. From audiences singly along loudly to Wicked to posting reaction videos to Saltburn, movie theatergoing has definitely made its way back into popular culture. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, movie theaters were shutting down and even going out of business. For over a year, it seems that people forgot what it was like to go to a movie theater. People slowly forgot about movie theatre etiquette after only watching direct-streaming releases from the comfort of their homes. Once the pandemic was coming to a close, and the theaters that were still in business reopened, going to the theater did not come back to the place it was before- and it remained that way for a while.

I think one main considering factor that contributed to this was the oversaturation of Marvel movies. With high budgets but low-quality movies (in my opinion), these franchise movies were put out several times a year. I think many people, including myself, became tired of Marvel being the only films shown in theaters and repeatedly not living up to expectations.  

I believe it has been in this past year and a half that true movie theater culture is coming back, and people are now continually excited to see movies in theaters. Going back to summer 2023, the “Barbenheimer” event was so big, and many people even went to see each movie in theaters within the same day. Both of these films’ promotional runs aided in exciting people to go to the theater. And more recently, Wicked’s promotional run has kept people wanting to watch it over and over again since it came out at the end of November 2024. 

Social media has also played a key role in making people want to have a movie theater experience. TikTok especially has led to trends based on going to the theater. During the winter of 2023, the movie Saltburn gained a lot of traction for its craziness and wild scenes, leading people to make TikToks showing themselves before and after the film. This made more and more people want to see it in theaters and see what all the hype was about. 

One specific thing social media helped promote was some films’ custom popcorn buckets that people could buy. I think the most prevalent ones were the coffin bucket for Nosferatu and the Wolverine head bucket for Deadpool and Wolverine. Many people went to the theater motivated by buying these elaborate popcorn buckets. 

Philadelphia itself also has a strong film scene with multiple smaller theaters, as well as the Philadelphia Film Society (PFS). Not only do they show new films, but they oftentimes show older films. They organize and create themes from directors, actors, animators, and more- which is very exciting. I have been able to see many movies that I would have never thought I would be able to see in theaters because of PFS. 

This film society is also great because their tickets are significantly cheaper than a chain theater, and I find them to be more personal. One recent event that PFS curated involved showing the movie Dinner in America (2022) with the director and lead actors as guest speakers. This event had two showings, which were both completely sold out, and those who came had the opportunity to ask questions and take pictures with the speakers. 

Not only are movie theaters coming back, but I also believe that recent films’ promotional runs and social media presences have led to the resurgence of people being excited to see a movie in the theater. If you’re in Philadelphia in particular, seize these opportunities to see films you may not have the chance to anywhere else! 

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• cinephile
• entertainment
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• nosferatu
• Wicked