Theater remains closed

KateLynn Slaamot
NLJ Correspondent
 
It seems like no industry is immune to the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the closures that have come out of it. 
Newcastle’s Dogie Theatre announced their temporary closing, starting at the end of this week. 
“We will shut down until the studios start releasing their movies,” Dogie Theatre manager William Nelson said. Nelson went on to say that movie studios aren’t currently releasing their movies because they don’t want to release them to theaters with “limited audiences.” Studios spend millions on their movies, and releasing them during this time is not a risk they want to take, according to Nelson.  
According to Nelson’s son and employee at the theater, Cody Nelson, they attempted to open the Dogie, showing movies that had been released before the pandemic. However, that didn’t work because most people flocked to the streaming services that were already showing those movies. 
“You can’t stay open showing a movie to three to four people a night,” Cody said. 
While the plan is to open up as soon as the studios begin releasing their films, that date has been pushed back numerous times. Nelson and Cody are not sure when that time will come, but they will be ready for it when it does. 
“We’re not looking at this as a permanent thing,” Cody said. 
However, despite their hopes, both father and son admitted that there is a potential movie theaters are beginning to become obsolete. With studios releasing directly to streaming services during this time, there is a chance they will decide that that is more profitable than movie theaters. This possible fate isn’t exclusive to small theaters, Cody said, as even large theater companies have been hit hard. 
“Studios might just say theaters are a thing of the past,” Cody said. 
Cody expressed hope that this would not be the case, however, and he is disappointed at the temporary closing of the town’s only theater. 
“It just takes another option away for people to have something to do in our community,” Cody said. “I think we’re very lucky in our community to have the theater. We’d love to keep it open.”
The theater has been selling popcorn to the public during downtown events since the COVID-19 shutdown, but there is no set schedule for doing so at this time. Cody said if there is enough interest they will continue to do so, but they haven’t had many customers for popcorn as of late.