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By Margo Vansynghel
Seattle Times staff reporter
Saturday morning, 8:27 a.m. The streets of downtown Seattle are quiet and deserted, but not the sidewalk around SIFF Cinema Downtown (née Cinerama). Dozens of people — some wearing green capes, fake beards and plastic elf ears — form a snaking line around the building.
A waft of molten chocolate escapes as the doors open at 8:30 sharp. The crowd, here to sit in the dark and watch three consecutive “Lord of the Rings” movies with hundreds of other fans, throngs inside and descends upon the concession counter. The six staffers shoveling chocolate popcorn can barely keep up — the sold-out event is already shaping up to be one of SIFF’s most-attended nonfestival days ever.
If you’ve been to the movies recently, you may have noticed it too: Despite sweeping declarations about the death of the silver screen in the pandemic streaming era, cinemas are starting to fill up again.
In fact, 2023 was a banner year for movie theaters, the best since 2020, and local theaters say foot traffic is rebounding, with special events, cheaper tickets and souped-up concessions drawing folks back.
“The good news is: People are coming back to the movies,” said Beth Barrett, artistic director of Seattle International Film Festival, which owns SIFF Cinema Downtown. “We are starting to see the same kinds of audiences [as before the pandemic] … We’re starting to see screenings sell out.”
More reasons for optimism: Movie execs are reversing course on the pandemic-era trend of straight-to-streaming film releases. And, driven in part by social media platforms like TikTok and the cinephilecentric Letterboxd, some indies say young people are flocking to their theaters to see classics on the big screen.
Seattle Times staff reporter
Saturday morning, 8:27 a.m. The streets of downtown Seattle are quiet and deserted, but not the sidewalk around SIFF Cinema Downtown (née Cinerama). Dozens of people — some wearing green capes, fake beards and plastic elf ears — form a snaking line around the building.
A waft of molten chocolate escapes as the doors open at 8:30 sharp. The crowd, here to sit in the dark and watch three consecutive “Lord of the Rings” movies with hundreds of other fans, throngs inside and descends upon the concession counter. The six staffers shoveling chocolate popcorn can barely keep up — the sold-out event is already shaping up to be one of SIFF’s most-attended nonfestival days ever.
If you’ve been to the movies recently, you may have noticed it too: Despite sweeping declarations about the death of the silver screen in the pandemic streaming era, cinemas are starting to fill up again.
In fact, 2023 was a banner year for movie theaters, the best since 2020, and local theaters say foot traffic is rebounding, with special events, cheaper tickets and souped-up concessions drawing folks back.
“The good news is: People are coming back to the movies,” said Beth Barrett, artistic director of Seattle International Film Festival, which owns SIFF Cinema Downtown. “We are starting to see the same kinds of audiences [as before the pandemic] … We’re starting to see screenings sell out.”
More reasons for optimism: Movie execs are reversing course on the pandemic-era trend of straight-to-streaming film releases. And, driven in part by social media platforms like TikTok and the cinephilecentric Letterboxd, some indies say young people are flocking to their theaters to see classics on the big screen.
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