Opinion: Movie Theaters will recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Matthew Long, lifestyle reporter

According to Variety, AMC reported a loss of 4.6 billion dollars in 2020, 77% of the average yearly revenue for the company. However, in the last year, with releases like Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Batman, which have brought massive crowds to the theaters, there has been a renewed hope for movie theaters. For many viewers, there is no experience that is quite like sitting in a packed theater, watching a movie up on the big screen. 

Marvel Studios released Spider-Man: No Way Home exclusively in theaters on December 17th of 2021 and according to Variety, as of February 15th 2022, it has grossed 1.855 billion dollars worldwide. This is all money being brought into movie theaters. Superhero movies, and especially Marvel movies, are very hyped before they come out.  Wade Lyles, a self professed “Marvel Superfan”, said “seeing a Marvel movie in theaters is an entirely different feeling. There is an energy that fills the theater that you can’t get at home.”.

DC released The Batman on March 4th of 2022, and according to Variety, as of March 13th of 2022 it has grossed 463 million dollars, and that is also only in theaters. This is another movie that was incredibly hyped up before it was released, and a lot of people, both fans of DC and just regular movie-goers, were very excited to see it. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of the review leaving audience enjoyed the movie. With a release like this, and the amount of money that it is bringing in, it is entirely possible that movie theaters will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With more superhero films, like Morbius and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and family films like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and The Bad Guys coming out in the next few months, there is a definite hope for theaters to recover from this devastating pandemic.