Make Drive-In Movie Theaters Cool Again

COVID-19 has brought the world to a halt in a way that most of us have never witnessed before. The
restrictions that followed the start of the pandemic have forced us to slow down and spend our time in ways
that we may have never made time for before in the midst of our busy lives. Since mid-March, when the virus
first spiked in the United States, everything from schools, offices, sports games, concerts, and restaurants
came to a screeching halt. The things that once filled up our days were no longer available for us and people
across the world resorted to other forms of entertainment to pass days away under lockdown or during
quarantine. Different trends saw their fair share of an increase in popularity: from making things like
whipped coffee to binge-watching Tiger King, people found various ways to entertain themselves.
According to the New York Post, one of the main ways that people have stayed busy during
quarantine is by spending time outdoors and amongst nature. 66% of people shared that they have spent
more time outdoors during quarantine than they would normally, especially as staying indoors during the
lockdown can have long-lasting mental impacts. With movie theatres under strict orders to remain closed, an
outdoor activity that has once again seen a rise is the drive-in movie theatre. Once an extremely popular past-
time, drive-in theatres served as a family-friendly form of entertainment with offerings such as movies,
playgrounds concerts, and concession stands. Overtime, movie theatres took over and the number of drive-in
theatres across the United States dropped from its peak of 4,063 theatres in 1958 to just around 325 theatres
today.
At a time when there aren’t many outlets for people to escape their houses and find modes of
entertainment, drive-in theatres are serving as a useful form of entertainment and a way to socialize safely.
People have space to spread out and follow social distancing recommendations while also having an
opportunity to be surrounded by other groups around them in order to satisfy the need for social interaction.
In order to keep up with the changing norms, many indoor theatres are converting their parking lots to drive-
ins and Walmart is opening up 160 pop up drive-in theatres all across the country, offering free family-
friendly movies such as “Wonder Woman” and “Spy Kids.”
Theatres across the United States are seeing a spike in sale revenues and owners believe that with
the continued shut-downs and strict guidelines in some states like New York, drive-ins will become a viable
option for the near future and may profit more, especially if blockbuster films are made available to them for
showing. Even in Europe, drive-in theatres are becoming increasingly popular amidst the restrictions. In
countries such as Germany, theatres are also serving many purposes and hosting church services and theater
performances, in addition to movies. In the United Kingdom, which only had three drive-in temporary
theatres prior to the pandemic, the number has now increased to forty. In Brazil, a soccer arena has been
transformed to a drive-in that can accommodate 300 cars while countries such as Lebanon and Sarajevo are
opening their first drive-in theatres.
While COVID has brought our world to a pause since early 2020, the way in which humans have
found other ways to socialize and come together in a communal setting is inspiring. We may not have the
bustling crowds and busy events that we did back in January, but we are constantly finding ways to make the
most of a strange time and bringing back drive-in movie theatres is a prime example of this.