The world is embracing the drive-in cinema – why not Britain?
The lights have dimmed, the popcorn is ready, the movie is about to start… and the handbrake is engaged. Drive-in movies, for decades regarded as a nostalgic and very American novelty, are making a global comeback as coronavirus brings a halt to traditional cinema-going.
“Tickets sold amazingly well – we’ll be back up and running pretty sharpish, as soon as we can do so,” says Vickie Butterworth, director of the One Agency, a digital marketing company that had been ready to unveil, on March 26, a three-screen drive-in cinema at Manchester’s EventCity conference centre. On March 23, the government banned public gatherings, and the idea was called off.
“The minute that freedom of movement is lifted to the point where we can run them again, they’ll be back on.”
A drive-in movie boom in the UK would be another indication of how radically Covid-19 is reshaping society. Britain has long shunned drive-ins, despite the increasingly popularity of outdoor screenings in a picnic-type setting.
The country’s first permanent drive-in, Route-66 in Manchester, only opened in 2012. Of the estimated 4,300 cinema screens in Britain, these all-American outdoor complexes account for fewer than a dozen. But in the era of social distancing, might the drive-in have a crucial advantage over crowded multiplexes?
Not everyone is optimistic. “Drive-in movies never took off here,” says the owner of a UK drive-in and open-air cinema company, who wished to remain anonymous. “We are hearing stories about drive-in movies in America that are still open, and there being a boom in trade.
“But there aren’t going to be loads of drive-in movies starting up. There’s no money in them. You need an awful lot of space to put the cars in and you can’t charge that much for a ticket to show a film.” In the final weekend before the lockdown, his drive-ins brought in “less than £1,000”.
“There wasn’t a boom of any sort. Another factor is that it’s not been a great year for films. We had Cats. It was an absolute disaster.”
Internationally, the drive-in resurgence is led by America, where there is a decades-old tradition of watching a movie from your car. Last weekend, 25 drive-ins were open in the US, with a further 150 expected to follow as individual states ease lockdown restrictions. Even New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who has criticised President Donald Trump for failing to act fast enough against the pandemic, approves.
“Where is the public safety issue? It’s a drive-in theatre,” he said at a recent briefing. “You’re in the car with the same people.”
This isn’t simply an American phenomenon. Iran, which has reported more than 6,000 coronavirus deaths, has recently opened the country’s first drive-in. In Europe, householders in Germany, Lithuania and the Czech Republic are flocking to them too.
But cinemas in the UK remain closed, following the government’s prohibition on public gatherings of anyone not from the same household, and the closure of non-essential shops. The hope is that, as restrictions are gradually loosened, drive-ins may be a solution for movie fans craving a big-screen fix.
Social distancing will be a priority when the EventCentre drive-in is up and running again. The plan is to park diagonally in a “chess-board” pattern with one space between vehicles. Movies due to be screened in March included Mary Poppins Returns, Bohemian Rhapsody and Avengers: Endgame. Tickets were priced at £20 per car, and families were encouraged to bring their own refreshments, with none available on site.
“We’ve had thousands of inquiries about putting [drive-in screenings] on across the country,” says Vickie Butterworth. “They’re going to take off like mad.”
