Drive-in movie theaters poised for a comeback amid coronavirus crisis

NY Post ^ | April 20, 2020 | Alexandera Steigrad

[buckalfa]

Drive-in movie theaters — a tiny, nearly forgotten sliver of the US cinema business — may be poised for a comeback as the coronavirus has shuttered indoor movie theaters nationwide.

The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the movie theater industry with over 40,000 screens closed in the US alone — but a small group of drive-in theaters still remain in business, and they may soon be able to offer a little relief to pent-up moviegoers, according to a report.

[HombreSecreto]

Awesome!

[Dutch Boy]

Crappy movies don’t help either.

[Pollard]

Most of the full sized Nash vehicles had a a back seat/trunk that converted to a bed as an option.

[Sacajaweau]

Bring your own popcorn and soda was a real draw. Theaters are one big rip off.

[diatomite]

Oh yes. The typical movies previously shown at a drive-in are now being shown on MST3K. My first job was at the snack bar during my junior summer. Great fun.

[chuckee]

I would be happy to see drive ins make a comeback. If the public maintains a social distancing frame of mind after the crisis is over, they would be a entertainment outlet. The Beast with Two Heads on the screen while The Beast with Two Backs gets it on in the car.

[MayflowerMadam]

“Up north winter kills the drive-in movie idea.”

I recall having some fun at the old Fireweed Drive-In in Anchorage in the ‘70s — north, winter, cold. Looking back now, I guess we must’ve been crazy.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

This is where kids in the 50s and 60s went to lose their virginity. Good times indeed. Need to return to this. More babies needed to replace those lost in the pandemic.

[gathersnomoss]

More drive-ins = Increased Birthrate.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I never knew that about the Nash cars.

When I was about 14 or 15 in the mid 60s, there was an article in Popular Science about converting what was then-known as a "panel wagon" or "panel truck" to a camper. This was really cool and long before camper shells on pickup trucks became popular.

I remember visiting my grandparents in Idaho one summer and met a guy in his 20s with a panel wagon that he called his "f*&k truck." I was still a bit wet behind the ears and, not yet having a driver license, wasn't completely clear on the concept.

[Zathras]

Yep and property values are too high to buy the land for essentially a parking lot.

[A Navy Vet]

"I think with the small compact cars it would be painful sitting through a double header."

I have a 1958 Impala that would be perfect for a drive-in theater.

[Sgt_Schultze]

This will be a great cure for the obnoxious patrons who talk out, "Don't go inta that basement . . . . Look out bahind ya . . . "

Loudmouth clowns squawking and talking on the phone.

[A Navy Vet]

There are very few drive-in theaters left. Most were sold for their land to build more profitable residential and commercial buildings. I can’t see any investor paying the costs of new land and the build out. Wish it were so, but I doubt it.

[Paul R.]

Hmmm... Maybe the best fidelity answer* would be to provide 12 volt hookups (each would have to be current limited) and an input supply adaptor (maybe just sell / install these on the side).

In summer and winter, people would probably just run their cars on idle anyway. How much gas does it take to run an average 2010 or later car on idle for 2 hours? The biggest problem might be calm nights - ya’ don’t want the movie-goer crowd to self-fumigate.

*Now, this is still mostly in the range of aftermarket car audio, but, a fairly modest aftermarket car audio subwoofer can outperform all but the best home theater equipment for low bass output. About 20 years ago I had a JL 10W6 powered by 200 watts (real watts) in the back of a Mazda MX-3. Granted that’s a small but solid car that supports bass well. Anyway, that modest combo would, around 20 Hz, seriously bounce one’s behind and vibrate the rear-view mirror. Even a JL Fathom f112 (home) subwoofer can’t do that. (Direct experience, in my home, and the f112 is a great home sub.) The advantage of a passenger car environment to get extended (not boomy) low bass can be enormous. Movie soundtracks’ bass can be truly astonishing, “in-car”.

This does require “some” juice - probably more than a car battery can supply for a long movie. But, otoh, I often ran that system in the MX-3 for ~30 minutes, motor off, with no problem. (The motor vibration, slight as it was, was a distraction.) That comes with another disclaimer though: I prefer highly dynamic audio, so, average current draw was not particularly large.

At any rate, if this (CV-19) stuff goes on for long, there might be some interesting things come out of it.

[Pollard]

I didn’t know about the Nash bed-in-car thing either until I started researching stuff for articles on our family tree website. I knew my grandfather was a Nash dealer but didn’t know much about the cars. I got all the family pics and there are quite a few Nashes so I tried to find out what year and model they were which is how I learned of the bed thing.

[A Navy Vet]

Yup. Those 4k TV's are amazing. We have a 65" LG and it's like looking through a window. They also upscale older movies to ultra high definition. The prices are dropping every year. With an inexpensive surround setup, or maybe just a center speaker that projects faux surround, you can have your own theater in your home if space provides.

We have a Definitive Technology (best speakers ever) surround system run through our receiver. Why bother with a the hassle of going to a theater, with their over-priced concessions?

Still, I'd love to go to drive-in some times in my 58 Impala. It has a separate high power battery (Yellow Top) for listening to music without draining the engine battery. It is wired with a switch that I can alternate between engine battery and the Yellow Top in the trunk.

[Paul R.]

Hmmm... True for crowded locales, but how many cities and towns have areas of 5 year(?) floodplain nearby or in the city that are impractical for permanent development (houses, businesses, etc.)? One would elevate the screen anyway, put the “projection house” in a trailer, concessions in another if need be, and broadcast the audio over low power FM.

Ok, maybe you don’t have movies in wet springs or falls...

[A Navy Vet]

"who ever actually watched the movies at those things?"

They showed movies there? I can't remember from the back seat.

[A Navy Vet]

"The snack bar will be closing in ten minutes."

Before that, "Let's go out to the snack bar", with animated popcorn and hotdogs figures dancing around.