It’s an activity that a lot of people enjoy. That’s been going on for a little while now. But I think by this point, a lot of people are going back to something more normal.

Obviously there was a huge drop in theater attendance with the pandemic. Are you surprised by the number of people returning to theaters this summer? Do you consider this a movie theater rebirth of sorts?Ī. UVA Today caught up with Hamilton to discuss the big summer comeback for movie theaters, the level of this year’s blockbuster film slate and the changes to the film industry caused by COVID-19. His areas of interest include film and television, and he’s a pop critic for Slate magazine. Hamilton is a cultural historian who studies sound, media and popular culture.

“There is something kind of cool about it, that people are coming back, that there is a realization that there’s something to the movie theater experience that can’t be recreated in our home.” That’s enough to compare it with the $2.58 billion the box office brought in over that time in pre-pandemic 2019. “CNBC reported recently that movie theaters across North America made $2.27 billion in tickets from May 1 to July 10. I think that’s how most artists who work in that industry want their movies to be watched. “I’m someone who really values the movie theater experience and thinks it’s really good to see films on the big screen. This is an encouraging sign, University of Virginia media studies professor Jack Hamilton said. Two years later, the push is on for a return to a normal cinema experience. For some, a big night out at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic was a trip to the couch and a flip around a preferred streaming service for something to watch.īoth moviegoers and movie makers were forced to adapt as most theaters were either closed or severely limiting attendance.

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