Warner will stream blockbusters, and Gig Harbor’s Galaxy will meet them head-on
Galaxy Theatres, like many other movie theatres, has had a challenging year. The Gig Harbor theatre had recently reopened in early November only to close down again following new restrictions prohibiting operations of movie theatre.
Now, they will have to face down a world where they aren’t the only game in town for big new releases. On Dec. 3, Warner Bros. announced that all of their 2021 slate of films will be released on the streaming platform HBO Max at the same time they’re released in theatre.
The move came following the changes to another Warner Bros. film, Wonder Woman 1984, which is going to HBO Max for Christmas and Mulan, also going straight to Disney+.
The change represents a fundamental shift in the way movies are seen, raising questions about how and if theaters will be able to survive.
Galaxy Theatres, which also has 15 other locations along the West Coast, is now facing this uncertain future. In an interview, CEO Frank Rimkus expressed confidence that they can overcome any changes just as they have done with previous upheavals.
“Our industry has climbed a wall of fear for over 100 years. Wars, unemployment, the 2008 recession,” Rimkus said in an interview from Los Angeles. “Certainly this is another one, this is a wall of fear.”
The news didn’t come as a surprise to Rimkus’ company, which first formed in 1998 and broke ground in Gig Harbor in 2016. Even as Rimkus said “he saw it coming” he acknowledged the release changes will still cause an impact, at least for next year.
“We will feel it, the question is obviously how much,” Rimkus said. “It will impact us on the short term. In the long term, I don’t think so.”
Rimkus drew an optimistic analogy between his business and restaurants, both of which fill the desire for social interaction that only going out can provide.
“Why are restaurants such a big part of our life?” Rimkus asks. “It’s a social experience. We are social animals, we need to congregate and we need to be around people.”
That experience is something Rimkus says can’t be replicated by just sitting at home in front of one’s own television.
“Movie theatres, like professional sports, like college sports, like concerts, like plays, and all that, are broadly defined as a social experience,” Rimkus said. “Watching on TV is not a social experience, it’s more a personal experience.”
Rimkus said his theatres will open when they are able and that they will show the big releases, even if they are streaming at the same time.
The CEO also has confidence in the economics that he says favors keeping theatres around.
“The studios need to make money. Streaming is not going to create the aftermarket capability relative to sequels, games, clothing, merchandising, all that,” Rimkus said. “Streaming can’t get the value up the way historically the way movie theatres do.”
Rimkus also spoke to the personal relationship he has with audiences and how he thinks that will be something that doesn’t change.
“Our industry has withstood the test of time,” Rimkus said. “Galaxy and I are just no more than participants in a momentary stream that is going to continue to flow. It started before us and will continue after us. We’ll get through it.”
Reach Chase Hutchinson at chase.hutchinson@thenewstribune.com
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
