Study Shows Moviegoers Will Take Their Time Returning To Theaters

There’s some good news and bad news for the movie industry once this coronavirus pandemic is in our past. A new report by EDO (via Deadline) says audiences are likely to return at normal levels once things return to normal. However, they won’t be in any hurry to rush back into theaters.

The study shows that 70% of people interviewed were likely to return to cinemas once the outbreak has cleared, with 45% of those “very likely” to do so. That’s great news for a theatrical industry hit hard by “shelter in place” orders and social distancing.

On the downside, these same people aren’t in any hurry. Of the 70% who expect to come back into theaters, 45% said they would wait “a few weeks” before they do. Another 11% says they’ll wait “several months”, while only 20% say they’ll rush the cinemas once doors reopen.

If you think about it, there never should’ve been any expectation of a quick return to normalcy. The situation we’re in now is going to take months, and a lot of people are going to be out of work during that time. The last thing on anybody’s mind at the end of this is going to be movies, it’s going to be getting back on their feet financially, getting back into the groove of working, etc.

So the point is that there is indeed good news on the horizon, just not any time soon.

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Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.