Drive-in movie theaters, including one in Westerly, are having a moment.
At Misquamicut Drive-In in Westerly, movies are selling out fast, as people search for entertainment options
With cinemas, theaters and concert halls shuttered due to the pandemic, one entertainment stalwart remains: the drive-in. Over the decades, the popularity of cineplexes soared and drive-ins waned. But drive-ins are now having a moment. With social distancing still a consideration, people are flocking to these venues around the country — including one in Westerly.
The Misquamicut Drive-In Theater has been running each summer for the past eight years and returns next weekend at Wuskenau Town Beach in Westerly. Organizers have only announced the lineup for the first two weekends — and the screenings are already sold out.
The drive-in, which is run by the Misquamicut Business Association, will offer up “Jaws” on May 15, 16 and 24 and “Jaws 2” on May 22 and 23.
Caswell Cooke, executive director of the Misquamicut Business Association, said, “We pre-sold our opening night. … We sold out in about an hour-and-ahalf. So we added Saturday night, and we sold that out in, like, 45 minutes. Then the next week was scheduled for ‘Jaws 2’ — that’s a fan favorite also. We sold out the first night instantly and then added a second night and sold that out instantly as well. So the first four shows are already ticketed and already sold out.”
And then a May 24 screening of “Jaws” was just added Tuesday afternoon and sold out, too.
Cooke said they usually fit 100 cars into the parking lot for movies, but, under current state rules, they now can’t be at more than half-capacity.
More movies are to come and will run into the fall.
Parking distance, bathroom limits
Cooke says the MBA Board of Directors had been discussing over the past few months what to do about the drive-in in 2020.
“We’d be reading things like how the drive-in is being revived in other parts of the country because it’s a safer activity. My board was split (a month ago) on whether or not we should even open this year. … After a few weeks went by and we’d seen other drive-ins open, I directly asked the governor’s office, ‘Can we open, and if so, how?’” Cooke says.
The office sent him specific guidelines on what was allowed. There can’t be more than five people in the restrooms at one time, for instance. (There will probably be attendants to keep track of that.) And wherever possible, organizers should limit the exchange of cash.
While people used to be able to show up on the night of the screening and pay with cash, they now have to buy tickets ahead of time online via Eventbrite.
“The main point is that you can’t just drive up and go to the drive-in — for now, and that’s a huge change,” Cooke says.
The concession stand won’t be open
for the first two weekends. They are hoping to figure out how to add that to the mix, perhaps with an app that people can use to order.
The drive-in will have to space cars twice as far apart as in the past.
“If we can fit 100 cars, packed in, which we usually do, now we fit 50, so it gives people more space around their cars. Some people sit outside their car on their chairs, so it gives the space between cars that we wouldn't normally have. We're just going to have to be a little more vigilant about how we park the cars,” he said.
The guidelines say it's OK for people to sit in chairs, but they have to stay close to their car, he says.
Cooke expects the MBA will put movie tickets on sale probably two weeks in advance of the screenings “because obviously there's going to come a day next month or maybe the month after where the rules will lighten up a bit and we can have more cars.”
‘Caddyshack,’ ‘Footloose,’ ‘Goonies’
The MBA had tried showing newer movies at its drivein, meaning releases from the past five years, but the older flicks, circa the 1970s and '80s, remain the most popular.
“People just want to see ‘Goonies,' ‘Back to the Future,' ‘Grease,' ‘Jaws,' ‘Footloose,' ‘Top Gun,' ‘Caddyshack' — those are the movies people seem to want to come to,”
Cooke says.
Based on polls the association has done and on attendance, “Jaws” has always been the big winner.
“Every time we do ‘Jaws' during the season, it sells out. We could literally play ‘Jaws' every weekend all summer, and it would sell out,” Cooke says.
Classic commercials from the 1960s and '70s, such as the iconic “I'd like to buy the world a Coke” ad, are screened before the featured film begins. Retro music plays as well, so, Cooke says, “you get this whole vibe of the '60s or '70s.”
Money matters
The MBA relies heavily on sponsorships to help fund the drive-in movies. Businesses usually pay for their ads to run on the screen before the films. Traditionally, that has raised about $12,000 each year. This year, they had only sold about $3,000's worth before everything shut down due to the pandemic.
Without the usual level of income, Cooke says, “It's going to be a little bit of a barebones operation, just because each movie we show, we have to pay a licensing fee, which is like $350 a movie, and then (we have to pay) staff and a projection person and all that. So to put on each movie costs $600 at least.
“Without the sponsorships, it will be tough, but we'll make it happen.”
One company that is continuing to help is Coca-Cola. Each summer, Coca-Cola provides the MBA with soda to use as a fundraiser at the drive-in. The association gets the soda for free and then can sell it to movie-goers (when the concession stand opens). The Coke and Diet Coke and Sprite come in old-fashioned glass bottles.
“We are really indebted to Coke,” Cooke says.
More to come?
In years past, the drive-in has been open one or two nights a week until July and August, when it has increased to three nights, before then tapering back off.
“If there's nothing to do all summer and everything is restricted, we'll talk to the Board of Directors and see if they want to open more nights,” Cooke says. “We want to provide things for people to do.”