Are movie theaters back in vogue? Crowds have returned to big screens in droves over the last few weeks behind Toy Story 5, Michael, and The Odyssey. The release of Spiderman: Brand New Day set new box office records this weekend. I went with my son & his friends last nigh for the 9pm show.
Related: Spiderman Leads Box Office Record Weekend
After a brutal 5 years of the pandemic, the North American box office is up +15% this year to $6.2B. Analysts say that is just behind the $7.0B in record 2019. Movie tickets have risen in cost over that period of time (+27% nationally), so the revenues don’t represent the same number of people in seats, but it’s good to see.
I love going to the movies, so I’m happy to see that the industry is bouncing back. We went to 15-20 movies/year in theaters before the lockdowns, but that fell to a low of 4 in 2023. Only half of Americans go to a movie theater at any time in a year, with the average person going 2x per year.
So far this year, we are at 7 movies. I think we’ll definitely be back to double-digits by the end of the year. (Last year we stalled out at 9).
I’m not sure how many movies we’ve watched at home on streaming this year. I’d guess it’s another 7. We tend to watch more TV series / specials at home than movies. Things that are split up into 30-60 minutes episodes are more likely to fit our schedule than full movies. We just finished the Little House on the Prairie reboot on Netflix.
Are you starting to go back to the movies, or still watching at home? Any good movie recommendations?
Image: (c) MrFireStation.com
MrFireStation 
We went to around a dozen movies per year a couple years ago. Th closest theaters we went to were torn down to repurpose the land for condos. Haven’t seen much that caught our fancy over the past year since the theaters were torn down. I miss the theaters because they were in a safe area with plenty of parking.
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We attend 5-6 movies in theaters annually since the pandemic. We saw the Odyssey last Wednesday afternoon. Two seniors with a small popcorn and drink $40.
We enjoyed the action despite it not being true to the story which we know, but I admit that most don’t know the story.
Victor Davis Hansen noted that it was good theatrical show, but it wasn’t accurate and such things as Helen of Troy being played by a Nigerian wouldn’t be close to accurate but necessary to count towards points for Oscar consideration. The Motion Picture Academy requires certain numbers of specified minorities for consideration which is unfortunate.
We do watch a number of mini-series via streaming services and most recently watched Grant about his life from prior to attending West Point up to death. He was an amazing leader whom I was ignorant about much of his life and challenges.
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I went the Odyssey with my son & his girlfriend. We’ve been debating it ever since. I don’t remember reading it in College Greek Tragedy, so I listened to a few podcasts on it. I wasn’t bothered with the casting, but disappointed that Christopher Nolan decided that Odysseus should not be portrayed as a clever hero, but instead an apologetic / troubled character.
Since I just finished my USA 250 theme summer, I’ve been thinking of George Washington as America’s Odysseus. A reluctant hero who thought he was signing up for a 3-4 month war and ended up on a challenging 8 year journey before he could return to Mount Vernon. His decision to give up power and return home is very heroic and unique.
US Grant lived in Galena – which is a wonderful little river town in Northern IL. I stopped there very briefly on a sports car charity road rally a few years ago. Maybe the Grant mini-series would pair well with a weekend trip there in 2027.
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