| The pandemic didn't kill the movie business. It did expose its flaws. For years, studios and theaters have stifled efforts to change the moviegoing experience. They have maintained a status quo that has been good for the biggest studios and theater chains, but bad for independents and consumers. Theaters and studios have boasted of record box office figures in recent years by charging higher prices for tickets. But those records obscure two nettlesome data points. People are going to the theater less often than ever before, and the average theater is usually more than 70% empty. Weekly moviegoing hasn't been a thing in half a century, but even people who used to go to the movies once a month now go every three months, if that. And yet, the movie business hasn't changed much about its business model to adapt to this new reality. Here's the good news. The pandemic, while harmful at first, now offers an opportunity to reset the business. Studios have already forced theaters to accept that movies will be available online sooner than ever before. Stopping there would be a shame for everyone involved. Sure, "Shang Chi" is a hit. But that doesn't mean we should just go back to the way things were. Here are a few changes that could make the movie business smarter – and the theater experience better for those of us who love them. Implement flexible pricing You pay the same price to see "Shang-Chi" on opening weekend as you do "Free Guy" in its fourth week. You also pay the same price to see a movie on Wednesday night as you do on Saturday night. Few businesses ignore basic supply and demand to this degree. If more people want to see a new Marvel movie opening weekend than anything else, it should be more expensive. If more people go to see movies on weekends, those tickets should also be more expensive. Raising prices comes with risk. If you charge too much for a new movie, people may not be able to go. But there are a lot of people who would pay $30 or $50 to see "The Eternals" on opening weekend. Anyone who hesitates to pay that price could wait for a week or two when the price be lower. And if the person doesn't want to pay the price at all, they can wait to watch it at home. This cuts both ways. You might entice people to come to see more movies if they knew there was a deal. Why not offer older Marvel movies on Tuesdays for $6? Or have a Friday night special for date night? Two tickets for the prices of one. Speaking of... Experiment with programming Watching a trailer for the new James Bond movie, the last with Daniel Craig, I was struck by a desire to revisit the previous installments. I can't be the only one. The Bond franchise is one of the most popular in movie history. Why wouldn't theaters offer a new Daniel Craig Bond every week until the day that one opens? Surely there is as much demand for "Casino Royale" as "Malignant." This doesn't just apply to movies by the way. Movie theaters offer massive screens, and comfortable seats. They are a good place to watch video entertainment in many forms. Why not use theaters to show more of what people want to see? Big football games. TV series finales. Live concerts. So many theaters are empty because they are playing movies most people didn't want to see in the first place for weeks longer than anyone has any interest. AMC just did a deal for NFL Sunday Ticket, so perhaps we are headed in this direction already. Embrace streaming The proliferating number of movies streaming at home could actually be a good thing for theaters. it enables them to offer more new product. If AMC took a new Netflix movie every week (with an exclusive window), it could replace some of the holes left by recent consolidation. Sports teams feared TV until they realized the added exposure could benefit their bottom lines. There isn't such a stark divide between in person sports and home with movies, but it's similar. Trying to stop people from consuming media the way they want to do it seldom works. The music industry didn't solve for piracy until Spotify offered a more convenient way to consume music online. The moviegoing experience has to be meaningfully different from or better than the at-home experience. Otherwise there is no reason to leave your house and spend a lot of extra money. To that end… better food, drinks and seats. This is the one improvement theaters have started to embrace. But not fast enough. Why does every movie theater still offer the same assortment of snacks and sodas that they did years ago? Why don't more theaters offer alcohol, or meals? I go to a movie at least once a month, and I always need to eat before or after. But what if I could show up and eat a meal at the theater? I saw "Shang Chi" at the Americana, a ritzy mall in Glendale. It's already got Din Tai Fung in the building, and great Armenian food from Mini Kabob near by. Why not bring them into the experience, or plan to offer In N Out on one night of the week? These are just a few ideas, many of which companies have no doubt explored. One obvious hurdle is the consolidation (and thus homogeneity) of so many theaters. Different theaters should program to their immediate audience, not to some generic consumer. Unfortunately, the pandemic will only accelerate consolidation. But a cinephile can dream. — Lucas Shaw | 
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