During wildfires, Angelenos sought solace in movie theaters

Like many Angelenos, Cheyenne Shannon’s routine ground to a halt in the hours after the devastating Palisades fire on the morning of Jan. 7, followed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena. She lives in Culver City and has never come close to being evacuated, but like everyone else, she knows many people who were temporarily – or permanently – displaced. The unfolding disaster has reopened the wounds of the pandemic and the fear of being forced to stay indoors again. And for the thousands of people working in the entertainment industry, like Shannon, a talent agent representing music video directors, it has also reignited fears that more production is leaving Los Angeles for good.

His method of coping? Escape to the cinema whenever possible. She saw three the week of the fires, culminating in the acclaimed Brady Corbet drama The Brutaliststarring Adrien Brody as a Holocaust survivor and architect tasked with building a community space for a wealthy benefactor. I met her during the film’s intermission — which runs three hours and 34 minutes — in the lobby of AMC Century City 15. “It’s been a very sad week,” Shannon says. “Coming to the cinema is a way to get away from it all and be distracted by a different story while still leaving with a feeling of triumph in some sense.”

Shannon wasn’t the only Angeleno who used movie theaters to escape the deluge of bad news and the constant tendency toward pessimism (this was a weekend when no one was complaining about having to turn off their cell phones). The AMC Century City location, located in the upscale Westfield shopping center, came surprisingly close to remaining the top-grossing theater in the country over the weekend of Jan. 10-12, despite its proximity to the Palisades fire and nearby neighborhoods under evacuation orders or warnings.

And it wasn’t just Century City that accounted for Los Angeles among the top five highest-grossing theaters in the country. Number 1 was New York’s AMC Lincoln Square ($227,000), followed by Century City ($221,000), AMC Burbank 16 ($178,000), AMC The Grove 14 ($145,000). $) and Orlando’s AMC Disney Springs 24 ($142,000), according to studio sources. with access to proprietary data. Business was particularly strong on January 10 due to school closures.

And an enduring symbol of the importance of movie theaters to the social fabric of a community, the decades-old Bay Theater in the Palisades was one of the few structures to survive (it is not currently open, although on). It’s part of a small shopping center owned and operated by mega-developer Rick Caruso, who hired private crews to protect the retail parcel that includes newer buildings that would have been constructed with fire-resistant materials.

“Those Los Angeles area theaters that were able to remain open provided a sort of refuge for their patrons looking for a temporary respite or escape from the devastating fires that were unfolding in real time across the region,” notes Paul Dergarabedian, chief analyst at Comscore.

Another benefit: Many theaters have sophisticated air filtration systems that were installed during the pandemic era, an important draw given the hazardous air quality due to fires.

That’s not to say the Greater Los Angeles movie market hasn’t been impacted. It is generally the largest market in the country; it slipped to second over the weekend of January 10-12, but remained second behind New York. Several key theaters were hit hard due to the heavy smoke and proximity to the fires: ticket sales fell 51 percent at AMC Universal Cinema at CityWalk and 37 percent at AMC The Americana at Brand 18, near Altadena. And the former ArcLight at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, which bordered an evacuation zone as the fire spread, was a ghost town (business has never been the same since Regal took over, according to sources).

The fires, which have left thousands homeless, come at a precarious time for the box office, which is expected to run at full capacity this year after a slowdown in 2023. And with Los Angeles being the top movie market, studios and theater owners are hoping that the distraction offered by a trip to the movies — which still costs far less than other forms of entertainment — continues as the city begins a long, arduous recovery.

Mid-afternoon on Jan. 11, the view from the plaza outside AMC Century City was a grim reminder of the impending Palisades fire and its advance on various fronts. While the sky just above the mall was blue, the incredibly long wall of smoke above the hills to the north was disconcerting. Four energetic boys, accompanied by their babysitter, laughed and jostled as they tried to figure out how the ticket machine worked for a mid-afternoon screening of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. All four had been evacuated from their homes. The eldest, aged 12, is from Palisades. His family’s home was not burned to the ground, although he didn’t know at the time how much smoke damage was done. “I think it’s safe because we live in a small valley. It hovered over us and flew away,” the shy teenager said. The other three live in Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood. The youngest, 10, said when explaining the outing: “There was really nothing to do, so my mom said, ‘Why don’t we take them to the movies?’ »

Many I spoke with were there to see The Brutalist. They said the parallels between the film and the fires were striking, because it’s a story of tragedy, rebuilding and perseverance. “Those are really good themes for what’s happening in Los Angeles,” Shannon noted. To boot, considering the film’s long running time, trailers, and a 15-minute intermission, it meant a long and welcome respite from the unfolding tragedy. (From A24, the film topped the Oscars and won top honors at the Globes, including Best Drama, Best Director and Best Actor.)

Three older women, all wearing masks, were among those who came to Century City to see the film. One said she lived in Palisades for 27 years and raised her family there. On Jan. 11, she learned that her former home had survived, but she was visibly shaken as she spoke of the incredible overall loss, including more than 1,200 structures burned and hundreds more damaged. When asked why they wore masks inside the theater — most patrons took them off once they entered — she said she and her friends were worried about being exposed to the viruses that are circulating. But she said it was important for her to make a statement and leave the house: “I’m not going back to living like we did during COVID.” »

A young woman in the theater, who lives in Santa Monica, was evacuated and went to a friend’s house in the West Hollywood area before deciding to go see The Brutalist. “Why not be even sadder?” she said. “And it’s been over four hours. What else are we going to do? I wanted to get away from everything.

This story first appeared in the January 17 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.