(CNBC) In late March, like many businesses, the film industry entered a period of forced hibernation as the U.S. went into lockdown to stem the coronavirus pandemic.
With indoor cinemas closed, drive-in theaters were a lone bright spot until May, when some state governments began to loosen guidelines and permit indoor theaters to reopen to the public with limited capacity. It wasn’t until August that major chains AMC, Cinemark and Regal unlocked their doors.
The hope was that once new Hollywood features arrived, so too would the audiences. That never happened.