To bring audiences back to movie theaters without breaking social distancing rules, Marcus Theatres chose to revive drive-in cinemas. The company opened one such cinema in Nebraska, as a test run, and Milwaukee’s first location will feature Jurassic Park and E.T. when it opens on Friday, May 29, in the parking lot of the Majestic Cinema of Brookfield.
The Brookfield location “will continue showing from its parking lot seven days per week during the summer moviegoing season. The experience is comparable to the nostalgic drive-in, but on a smaller scale,” a Marcus Theatres’ spokesperson said.
There will be a 42-foot screen in the parking lot of the Majestic in Brookfield, which can accommodate up to 100 cars. Guests will be able to access the movie’s audio by tuning into a radio station—they can do so from their car’s built-in radio, but bringing a portable radio is encouraged. Only one ticket is needed per car. One ticket for the Friday opening night costs $30 to see two feature movies back to back. Going forwards, tickets will cost $25 per carload from Monday through Thursday and $30 for weekend showings.
“We have seen that consumers are looking for entertainment that they feel has a high level of comfort and safety,” explains Marcus Theatres CEO, Rolando Rodriguez. “And there is definitely the appeal of this nostalgic environment of going through a drive-in where people can enjoy watching a movie outdoors, in their cars with their families. [We are offering this] with very safe practices. We’re very excited about opening this drive-in concept in our own hometown!”
The Nebraska location, which Rodriguez says “has done extremely well,” was the opportunity for the Marcus Theatres Corporation to get acquainted with low-contact service. Employees will wear personal protective equipment, but patrons are also encouraged to do so for increased safety. Measures in place include tickets and food only being available for purchase online, through Marcus’ website or app; no cash transactions will be allowed. Food will be available for pickup. Social distancing will be observed even between cars, so drivers will be expected to park where employees ask them to. The company highlights its willingness to provide refunds if someone suspects they might be sick or if conditions are not ideal for showings.
For now, the drive-in locations only show old classics, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Marcus Theatres is willing to expand the movie library to new releases, as well as keeping the parking lot cinemas open after quarantine ends.
“We're constantly evaluating possibilities, and we obviously have to be very careful about what we announce,” Rodriguez says. “When we open up our regular theaters, we will evaluate what works or doesn't work. If we find out that the consumers want to see first-run films in the drive-in environment as well as indoors, then we'll certainly evaluate how both of these products can coexist with one another.”
Prudent Reopening Efforts
Due to Wisconsin’s safer-at-home order, Marcus Theatres Corporation shut down all activity on Tuesday, March 17, following an initiative to cut seating capacity in half in the early days of the pandemic. That was a hard blow to the company’s 6,500 employees, many of which were laid-off. Marcus Theatres is the nation’s fourth-largest cinema chain, operating more than a thousand screens across the U.S. As such, they are looking to restart operations in a timely manner, with a reopening plan that could include both reopening indoor theaters, as well as opening new outdoors locations.
“We are looking to start the reopening process sometime in June—we don’t know when exactly—but in particular in July, because July has blockbuster movies that people are really looking forward to. That’s when the movie industry is planning, ideally, for movie theaters to be opened,” Rolando Rodriguez explains. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (July 17), as well as Disney’s live-action Mulan (July 24) are among the most highly anticipated releases.
“Reopening is a process; you can’t just open up and say, ‘Here we are.’ We have been working on plans to make sure that our theaters are going to be safe and healthy and follow governmental guidelines,” he adds. “We will be testing some of those systems over the course of June to be ready for what we believe will be a very exciting July.”
