Milwaukee movie theaters try to hang on, hoping safety measures, and 'Tenet,' bring back audiences
Chris Foran
Last weekend, the Rivoli Theatre, the 234-seat community movie theater in Cedarburg, pulled in more than 30 people on average for its showings of the Alfred Hitchcock classic "North by Northwest."
Things are looking up.
"Three weeks ago, we were getting 10 people (for screenings). Last week, we were in the 20s," said Jerry Voigt, who with his wife, Alice, manages the Rivoli, the 84-year-old theater at W62-N567 Washington Ave.
The Rivoli is one of just five indoor theaters that reopened in the Milwaukee area in the months after everything shut down as part of the effort to rein in the coronavirus pandemic.
For the movie theaters that have reopened, it's been a scramble to get over two huge hurdles: convincing moviegoers it's safe to come back, and getting big movies that stoke audiences' interest.
They've been working on the former, but waiting on Hollywood for the latter. Now they're hoping the wait is almost over.
Marcus Theatres, the nation's fourth-largest theater chain and the biggest in Wisconsin, is looking to reopen more locations later this month. Two new movies, the road-rage drama "Unhinged" and teen romance "Words on Bathroom Walls," open nationwide Aug. 21, so that date could be a target. But the chain hasn't locked in exact dates yet.
"We're heavily dependent on what the states and cities" will allow, said Rolando Rodriguez, president and CEO of Marcus Theatres, citing capacity limits, which are based on reopening plans determined locally. In the Milwaukee area, most reopening plans allow for up to 50% capacity, assuming other guidelines, from social distancing to mask-wearing, are in place.
A summer without blockbusters
Marcus and other theater operators are also dependent on what's available for them to show.
With theaters closed everywhere, movie studios pulled nearly all of the summer's movies off the calendar, nudging Wonder Woman, James Bond, Black Widow and the other anticipated blockbuster heroes into the fall, or even 2021, for a better chance to reach large audiences.
So theaters have been left with a mix of familiar blockbusters, kids movies and some recent horror titles. They've been charging $5 (or less), hoping to attract people who have lost interest in watching movies on smaller screens and show them the safety precautions they have been putting in place.
But theaters can't live on nostalgia alone.
"It's not the type of business that we were doing with first-run films," Rodriguez said. "The nostalgic product obviously has a limited audience. … (But) we've been very fortunate that (studios) have opened up the vaults."
In June, Marcus reopened six theaters, including four in Wisconsin, to hone safety practices and show patrons it was safe to come back to the movies. The company also opened pop-up drive-ins in five locations, including the Majestic Cinema in Brookfield and the South Shore in Oak Creek.
Rodriguez said most of Marcus' safety measures "worked extremely well," from an emphasis on low-contact transactions to limited seating for more social distancing.
Marcus improved a few things along the way, he said, like making masks mandatory. Theaters have an employee at the front door ready to explain procedures, and give out free masks if necessary.
So far, Rodriguez said, there's been "very little push-back, for the most part."
The pop-up drive-ins, opened in late May, were another experiment, to tap into a rush of interest nationwide in doing something, anything, that wasn't at home.
However, since then, Marcus has trimmed the number of drive-ins to two; the Majestic's is still running, albeit on a reduced schedule. "We've had some very good success with them … (but) more entertainment options have opened up" since, Rodriguez said.
This week, Marcus also closed two of its six indoor theaters, including the Bistroplex at Southridge Mall in Greendale and Renaissance Cinema in Sturtevant.
Waiting for 'Tenet'
Still, Rodriguez is optimistic it'll start turning around, because of one word: "Tenet."
"Tenet," the time-bending thriller from "Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan, had been one of the most anticipated movies of the summer before COVID-19.
Early on, Nolan and the movie's distributor, Warner Bros., committed to opening "Tenet" in theaters. But the lack of available theaters in most of the country forced them to push it back — from July 17, to July 31, to Aug. 12, to "indefinitely," and, finally to Sept. 3, in "select" cities.
"Tenet" finally setting a date, Rodriguez said, means all those other movies that have been melting off the calendar can stake their own spots — and theaters will know what they have to show.
"Once 'Tenet' put that stick in the ground, we were excited to get (theaters) back open," he said.
In Cedarburg, shifting to classics
In Cedarburg, the Rivoli reopened June 26, showing second-run movies as it has since it reopened as a community-based theater at the end of 2006. But because there haven't been first-run movies since early March, the Voigts' options have been limited, too.
So have the audiences.
"There's no way we could stay in business running 'Sonic (the Hedgehog)'," Jerry Voigt said.
So last week, the Rivoli switched from budget repeats to classic movies. Future titles include "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Casablanca" and "Brooklyn."
Like other theaters that reopened, the Rivoli has safety measures in place. Masks are required in the theater's lobby; the seats are empty every other row, and when a group buys tickets, two seats (or the aisle) are held back to promote appropriate distancing.
"The people who have been coming to the Rivoli, none have been complaining about their safety," Voigt said. "People are comfortable because everybody's masked up."
If ticket sales stay where they've been lately, with additional advertising revenue starting in the fall, "I think we can make it till next year," Voigt said.
Fox-Bay Cinema Grill, 334 E. Silver Spring in Whitefish Bay, was the first theater in the Milwaukee area to reopen, on May 27. Like the others, it has been showing older favorites, although it was the only local theater to show "Irresistible," Jon Stewart's new political comedy set in Wisconsin.
Last week, the theater, which also jumped in early selling food for curbside pickup, made a plea to followers on social media.
"To our wonderful Fox-Bay Patrons … reaching out in an attempt to convince you, your family and friends to come and see a movie in our theaters or order carry out from our curbside service. Survival for all hospitality establishments is paramount so that when this situation is over, we are still in existence."
The July 27 post sparked a flood of good wishes from followers.
The owner of the Fox-Bay didn't respond to requests for an interview. But the theater's Facebook page has several subsequent posts thanking patrons for the rush of business.
'Will it be enough? You don't know'
Like Fox-Bay, the Avalon Theater, 2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., has been promoting curbside snacks and meals, from the kitchen at the adjacent Mistral. But the movie theater has not reopened — and won't, until those new movies actually show up.
"Until we absolutely know there's content that we're proud to show, we're probably going to stay closed," said Lee Barczak, who with his wife, Jane Schilz, owns the Avalon, part of the Neighborhood Theatre Group.
Barczak said they have worked out safety practices, from social distancing to switching over to a reserved-seat ticketing system. Initially, he said, the Avalon would only be open Wednesdays through Sundays. He's not sure it'll be enough.
In mid-July, they sent surveys to members of Neighborhood Theatre Group's email lists; of the more than 500 people who responded, only 20% said they were ready to sit inside a movie theater.
"You've got to get people to feel comfortable," Barczak said of efforts to make movie-going feel safe. " … Will it be enough? You don't know."
But there's no point in reopening, Barczak added, without high-profile new movies leading people to the door. He sounded skeptical that "Tenet" would open Sept. 3. Earlier this week, the summer's other remaining blockbuster-in-waiting, "Mulan," was shifted from a theatrical release to streaming on Disney Plus.
"Without any content, it will be really hard for us to reopen," he said.
Marcus' Rodriguez was more confident that "Tenet" would stick to its latest opening date. But whatever happens, he added, the procedures Marcus and other theater owners have put in place will remain.
"There'll be certain things that will live well beyond" the pandemic, he said. "The virus has really changed our psyches."
Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cforan12.