As I write this it, it has been exactly one year since the movie theater I worked for shut its door due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus. We later opened up back in August, but few films have really grabbed audiences attention (that and the Coronavirus still being a thing). Now, however, vaccine distribution is underway and movie studios are starting to release movies that audiences would want to see in theaters. Are theaters still in danger, or is this the beginning of their return?

While it may be to soon to say, there is some strong evidence that points in the direction of a slow and steady return. Business has slowly been picking up recently with the release of bigger films, such as "Tom and Jerry" and the Disney film "Raya and the Last Dragon". These films have done some of the best business we've seen since Christmas and hopefully that trend continues up when we head into the summer months.

Theaters really need films that can draw crowds and give them a reason come. I'm not dismissing the smaller more independent films, but those aren't the kinds of films that large amounts of people flock to theaters to see. When people want to see a film in theaters they usually want to see something big, flashy, and thrilling. What better to potentially fill theater seats than a massive, expensive, blockbuster where two of the worlds most famous monsters fight each other.

"Godzilla vs. Kong" releases later this month and I hope it will be the film that finally puts butts in seats. Even before the film's release, there is strong evidence that this might be the case. The film's trailer was released and generated a large amount of hype. The film features two of the most iconic movie monsters fighting each other, that fact alone would generate enough hype to bring people back to the theater.

However, there is still a cloud of uncertainty hanging over movie theaters. While vaccine distribution is moving quickly, it may still take some time for people to feel confident enough to return to the theaters. Theaters are also limiting themselves in overall capacity to help stop the spread of the disease. This limits how many people they can let in, which limits the amount of money theaters can make.

Theaters also have to deals with the increasing competition offered by streaming services. Many of the films released in theaters during the pandemic have also been released on several different streaming services. That fact that people are able to get these movies in the comfort of their homes for a fraction of the price makes it hard to draw people back to the cinema.

I'm hoping that after a year of being cooped up inside people are more than ready to start going back out to do things. While streaming offers convenience there's nothing that compares to the social experience of seeing a big movie on the big screen with large crowds of people. I hope we can all go back to something resembling normal.