Drive In Theaters - Anybody in Hollywood listening?

Over the weekend, my wife and I took our daughter to a drive-in theater near our home in Raleigh. Not many drive-ins left in the world, which is a shame.

This particular theater was built in 1949. The screen was made of sheets of corrugated tin painted white. The panels had been repaired numerous times over the last sixty-five years - this is tornado country after all. The combination projection room, bathrooms, and snack bar looked pretty much unchanged from the Harry Truman days.

The only nod to new technology was in the form of an FM radio transmitter to replace the corded window speakers. Amazing the number of people who used to drive off with the speaker still in the window - must have cost the old theaters a fortune. With FM, the movie sound is piped right through your car stereo.

Admission was seven dollars per person to see a double feature of Planes: Fire and Rescue and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Did you get that? $3.50 per movie, folks. And, every dime of that went directly to the movie companies. The only money the drive in makes is on $1.50 hot dogs and $2.00 hamburgers.

Of course, this is why drive-ins are failing. The big cineplex's can pack hundreds of people into a dozen theaters for four or more shows daily. They also charge $12.00 per movie and $8.00 for popcorn. Cha-ching.

Drive-ins show two movies per night, three nights per week.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love the cineplex: air conditioned, comfy seats, big tub-o-cola. There are no mosquitos and the windshield doesn't fog up.

But, there's something profoundly American about a drive-in. Before the movie, kids get to play on the playground below the screen in their pajamas. Bats buzz the screen picking off mosquitos, and the roof of this theater is a canopy of stars.

So, if there's anyone in Hollywood listening, how about cutting the drive-ins a break? Lower the cost of the film rental for these icons of American history. I did the math in my head the other night. The theater ended the night with a loss. You don't need an MBA to know a business can't run like that for long.

And, the next time you go to the movies, check out a drive-in instead.

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