Releasing Old Movies Again

Releasing+Old+Movies+Again

Olivia Roberts, Section Editor

Many movie theaters are re-releasing old movies like Jaws or Halloween. Most of the movies are classics that came out in the 1970’s-the 1990s. With so many classic movies coming back to theaters, however, it sparks the question: why?

Most theaters are doing this in order to attract more attention and make more money. Because almost everyone can watch any movie from the comfort of their own home, theaters are struggling to stay in business. When Jaws was released in 1975, the theaters were packed full of eager people wanting to watch it. In 2022, if someone were to go to a movie theater, it is not surprising that they might be the only people there.

Re-releasing older movies is a desperate attempt to attract more customers. According to the New York Times, throughout the summer of 2022, theaters all across America were only able to sell 17% of all of their available seating despite well-liked releases such as Top Gun: Maverick and Minions: The Rise of Gru. There also seems to be a lack of creativity throughout films, causing a loss of income. Everything being released now has a foreseeable outcome, is uninteresting, or makes no sense at all. It is no doubt that Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, and more are taking the income of movie theaters.