Movie theaters worldwide sat empty this past year as COVID-19 restrictions prevented moviegoers from attending films. This lapse in profit has affected all theaters, but it hit ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters particularly hard, leading to the announcement of its closing during the week of April 16. ArcLight theaters are found across several states, but its loss is particularly painful to Los Angeles film lovers. The historic Hollywood Cinerama Dome, a centerpiece of Los Angeles culture, is mourned by many, including Cinema Studies teacher Ted Walch.

“I was heartbroken when I got the news,” Walch said. “I had every reason to believe that things were going well at ArcLight. ArcLight Hollywood was the home of WestFlix, the Harvard-Westlake Film Festival, and was made available to us through the warmth and generosity of Harvard School alum, Christopher Forman, CEO of ArcLight Cinemas.  Some of the best moments of my time at HW have been those evenings with our film festival – with guests ranging from Tom Hanks and Kathryn Bigelow to Alejandro Inarritu and Bo Burnham – some in the Dome and some in other theaters at ArcLight Hollywood.”

Film writer Chris McKenna, who worked on recent films like “Spider-man Homecoming,” “Ant-man and the Wasp” and “Jumanji,” agreed that ArcLight theaters closing was a major loss. He recalled personal memories of the Cinerama Dome and said ArcLight was one of the best theater chains from a moviegoer’s perspective.

“I remember going to the Cinerama Dome when I was 10, and I saw “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” there,” McKenna said. “It is a bummer as a fan of movies and as a writer of movies. If you love movies and you can’t stand some of the chains that make you sit through a bunch of TV commercials and just don’t have the quality of service, Arclight was just a haven. ”

The demise of ArcLight theaters caused concern for many film lovers, who fear that movie theaters everywhere are in danger. The popularity of streaming services and the low attendance over the past year have signaled the beginning of the end, according to HW Film Club member Hannah Yanover ’22.

“I think that the pandemic has only exacerbated what we were already seeing: the demise of movie theaters,” Yanover said. “Movie theaters will be a relatively rare occurrence in the future and most movies will be released via streaming services. Especially after this last year, I think that a lot of people will cut back on their theater experiences because they realized, by not attending for the past year, that they don’t need that experience as regularly in their lives.”

HW Film Club leader Aiden Schiller ’22 said he disagreed with the idea that theaters will give way to streaming. He said he believes movie theaters have an irreplaceable quality that will keep them alive for a long time to come.

“Streaming and at-home releases are sort of a boogeyman,” Schiller said. “There’s something about a theater that is impossible to replicate, and I think that this pandemic has really shown us this. I have no doubt that once all this is over people will rush back to theaters just for the experience.”

McKenna echoed the sentiment that movie theaters provide a valuable experience and a vital dimension to cinema. He referred to Marvel movies as examples of films that are always best watched in a theater.

“Part of the spectacle of seeing Marvel movies is seeing them on the big screen,” McKenna said. “No one’s hitting pause so you can take a phone call. It’s an experience that you’re sharing communally with other people, strangers in the dark, and I think that like any theater, it’s an experience that can’t be replicated in your home. It unifies you with the people you’re watching it with.”

Going forward, it can be difficult to predict the trends for upcoming movie production, said McKenna. Perhaps streaming really will dominate the industry. Perhaps movie theaters will see an uptick in popularity after the pandemic fades. Perhaps, as McKenna pointed out, the monopolization of film studios will lead to fewer releases.

“One of the trends that we do know is that companies are eating up other companies,” McKenna said. “Disney bought Fox, so how much of Fox’s slate is actually getting made? We have a consolidation of fewer buyers and producers of studio fare.”

This past year, there has been a noticeable decline in movie releases, in large part due to COVID-19 restrictions on production. In 2019, there were 792 movies released in the United States and Canada, according to Statista. In 2020, there were only 329 movies released. The movies that did come out were primarily available through streaming. Some consumers, like Yanover, said that they were not bothered by the shortage of new content because there was already so much available.

“Honestly, I have not been very affected by the lack of movies released during the pandemic,” Yanover said. “Yes, it would be nice to have some new content, but there is so much out there to watch that in the long run a year doesn’t make too much of a difference.

Though Walch did not identify the lack of content as an issue, he said streaming at home is not as enjoyable as going to a theater.

“Hunkering down in front of your laptop is all well and good, but for my money, these ways of viewing don’t hold a candle to the corporate experience of going to a theater like an ArcLight and settling in for a movie on a big screen – the way it’s supposed to be,” Walch said. “Sure, you can get some big screens at home, but nothing like the Dome, for example.”

Regardless of the future of theaters, movie production or industry trends, Walch says he remains certain that the tradition of cinema will remain intact.

“I’m not as concerned as some,” Walch said. “Movies are a part of who we are.  They get made – no matter what. They will flourish, and sometimes we find new ways to make them and distribute them and watch them because of god-awful circumstances like the pandemic.”