Unless you're living under a rock, (and frankly even if you are) you've heard about the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour which is opening in theatres on October 13th in more than 100 countries. You’ll also have heard that Beyonce is planning to send the Beyhive swarming mid-winter with the release of her documentary, Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé on December 1st. So far, Taylor has managed to break presale records at AMC with $26 million in presales in the first 24 hours. One can only imagine what is to come for the Renaissance documentary.
While I am deeply interested in these announcements on their own merit. I am deeply interested in the potential impacts of these two blockbusters on movie exhibition companies which are struggling due to declining attendance and skyrocketing costs. The SAG-AFTRA actor’s strike has compounded these challenges.
The release of Taylor’s film and Beyoncé’s documentary is a much needed lifeline at a time when former moviegoers have been opting for the big screens in their living rooms rather than those with gummi bear laden floors and popcorn lined seats. In the last four years, theatrical attendance has declined by nearly 50 percent. Drawing audiences to theaters, particularly the highly desirable segments that Beyoncé and Taylor’s fan bases represent is a game changing opportunity. The question is whether exhibition companies will leverage its full value and going forward take a page from the icons’ playbooks to create experiences that sell (tickets, concessions and) themselves.
My long-standing theory is that outside of the product itself, consumers purchase and engage based on convenience of the exchange or the value of the experience. Theaters have suffered from being neither convenient nor providing a meaningful experience. There is nothing convenient about getting dressed to leave your home and watch a movie (in the dark) especially when the same content is available from your kitchen-adjacent couch. Unless an experience is on offer (I’m looking at you Barbie) it’s hard for most people to make the case for going out to the movies.
Taking notes from two music icons is a great way for movie exhibition companies to craft a blueprint for how to program and activate cinemas to engage audiences and keep them coming through those double doors to inhale popcorn fumes and purchase $8 Twizzlers. Taylor’s creating an experience by inviting fans to don Era’s attire and friendship bracelets to showings. From lineup to lights up she’ll be simulating the concert experience. As for Beyoncé, anything is truly possible. (How does one comfortably sit in a chrome breastplate? Let’s get to work on that.)
The long and short of it is that audiences are looking for connection (read: the communal experience of crooning “You Belong with Me” with 200-300 of your new best friends), not proximity which cinemas traditionally try to pass off as connection (read: sitting next to a stranger and staring at a big screen while trying to chew and cry quietly). There’s a big difference between the two and it what has continued to annihilate dividends from AMC and other movie exhibition companies post-pandemic.
While admittedly, every moviegoing experience can't be Eras or Renaissance-level, theaters can make progress by more effectively partnering with studios and distributors to activate on-site and create memorable experiences worth the price of admission.
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