Led by mega-blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, movies grossed over $11.3 billion in 2019. Box office receipts for the next two years nosedived to $6.5 billion combined.
While streaming sites like Netflix had been successfully converting moviegoers into at-home streamers and cutting into theatrical draws for years, COVID expedited the process as home viewings were pretty much the only option (unless you happened to live by one of the country's few remaining drive-in theaters). While most studios held major releases until theaters reopened in late 2021, there were experiments with films like Trolls World Tour being released as a $19.99 streaming rental and Disney just giving away the new Pixar movie Luca to its subscribers.
On a regional level, independent movie theaters like the Magic Lantern and Kenworthy Theatre in Moscow offered smaller new releases for digital rental. For a while, Colville's Auto Vue Drive-In was the only place within a couple hours of Spokane that was actually screening new films (although the Kenworthy did fashion a pop-up drive-in at a University of Idaho parking lot). Laxer pandemic restrictions saw theaters in Coeur d'Alene reopen in July 2020 to coincide with the release of Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Washington state theaters didn't begin reopening with limited capacity until three months later in October.
While the years following the lockdown have seen a few tentpole blockbusters like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, and Barbie help keep theaters afloat, things still haven't — and may never — fully recover, with the 2024 domestic box office raking in just over $8.5 billion. On the bright side, indie movie theaters like the Magic Lantern, Kenworthy and Garland Theater made it through the tough times and still offer big-screen options for the diminished audience that remains. ♦
