Another Kansas City theater closed, but the movies are far from dead | Opinion
As we were installing our new (to us) dual 35mm and 70mm film projectors that will bring new cinematic life to our 100-year-old theater, Screenland Armour, we were informed that the B&B Mainstreet would be closing in a few days. It was surprising but not shocking. And then began the latest instance of “movie theaters are cooked” since my tenure in exhibition began almost 15 years ago.
I took over the operation of Screenland Armour in August 2012. We ran 35mm film and had two screens. We made very little money. I was only 26 — the perfect age to throw my entire being into something and fight as hard as possible to create something I wanted to see in Kansas City. I made movies, and had worked in a Hollywood Video store and restaurants, but never a theater. The bosses at an unnamed chain theater wouldn’t hire me — joke’s on them. And now I had the proverbial keys to the kingdom. My own cinema.
Then came the doomsday proclamations: Movie theaters are dead. Streaming is the new king, with Netflix launching its online service and smaller studios beginning to offer premium video on demand. The big cinema chains were big mad about this. But we didn’t blink. We saw good movies that we wanted to see, and thought surely others would. So, we would show these streaming titles on the big screen, often being the only theater in the market to do so. And we did good business — well, compared to the normal little business we had.
More years went by, and the next thing was the sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney. It meant one studio fewer making original films put out into theaters. Yeah, this was a bad thing. But at the time, the internet celebrated that now Disney would have the Fox Marvel characters.
And that was the tone at the time. Theaters were riding high on Disney’s massively successful run with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars, now also owned by Disney. Every few months, another billion-dollar title dropped.
COVID-19, strike, consolidation
Then, COVID-19 and prolonged strikes took their hardest hit on the entertainment industry, disrupting our moviegoing rhythms and cutting off a steady stream of films. For me, this has been our biggest hurdle in my tenure. We need to retrain audiences that there are reasons to come to the theater because of many years that lacked consistency.
In 2025, things finally felt normal. We had blockbusters, original filmmaking and strong awards contenders throughout the year. Audiences returned, and so did the excitement.
Yet, once again, there is a doomsday on the horizon as we watch as yet another massive consolidation may occur, while we witness the first steps of artificial intelligence blowing up the entire world as we know it.
It’s been a wild 15 years. Lots of things have changed. Theaters have closed. Companies have been bought. But we’re still here, the small independent theater that could. And not only are we here — but we are growing at a time when others are shrinking.
I don’t spend a lot of time considering what we are doing right, because it’s the same thing we’ve been doing for 15 years. We don’t run ads. We don’t have assigned seats. We focus on pricing and quality food and beverages. And most important, we show a wide variety of new mainstream, international, independent and classic cinema. That’s been the same this entire time.
The change is in the audience. Younger people are discovering the experience of a non-chain theater. They have an interest in a variety of cinema and are using Letterboxd like it’s TikTok. It’s creating a sense of community around movies similar to what I grew up with in video stores.
In the chaos of today’s world, it sometimes seems trivial to talk about movies but going to the movies matters. It’s gotten me through terribly difficult times and made them not so dark and scary. It’s introduced me to countless people who became some of my best friends. I’ve learned more about myself by what I watch and enjoy over the years. And at the theater, a week doesn’t go by these days without someone messaging us or telling me in person how important Screenland is to them. It’s more than just a two-hour escape.
But that isn’t always the case when it comes to business. It isn’t always about the love of the movies. I’ve had multiple cinema owners ask why we are spending $120,000-plus installing analog, imperfect antique projectors. Because it’s important to us. It’s part of film history, and most people under the age of 35 have likely never seen or don’t recall what real film looks like projected. I want them to see that. I want to show these movies that were shot on film, on film. It isn’t a 4D gimmick.
Large chains, higher prices
Projects like this are what we are all about here at Screenland. It’s never been about being the most commercially successful theater. It’s about doing what we love and opening the community to new experiences from all types of filmmakers across the globe, spanning the entire breadth of film history.
Movies have long been one of the most economical entertainment options for Americans. But the large chains have lost sight of that, instead delivering giant screens, heated seats, collectibles and overly-loud speakers. Prices have gone way up, and the quality of the experience has gone way down, making running a theater even more costly.
The world of moviegoing will continue to change over the coming years, likely with many more cinema closures. But that doesn’t mean movies are dead. Not by a long shot. The future of what we see and how we see it is in the control of the audience. It always has been.
It’s not all doom and gloom. Things change. And you might have to drive a bit farther for a screening when a theater close to you shuts down. But it’s imperative that you still go to the movies. I challenge film lovers to break from their algorithm and look into a movie that isn’t tailored to them. Try something different. Catch an older title that’s new to you. Go to a movie alone. As we say here, find your film family.
And as Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick say in in their social media videos, “You need the movies, and the movies need you.“
Adam Roberts is owner of Screenland Armour in North Kansas City.