Theatres bet big on events
With the theatre business in trouble, more and more movie houses are looking for creative ways to draw in audiences
Metal band Blood Opera perform at a Friday The 13th-themed Drunken Cinema at Toronto's Revue Cinema.
Screaming, singing, reciting famous lines. This isn’t your typical moviegoing experience.
At the Revue Cinema in the west end of Toronto, film-lovers attend special interactive screenings in droves. One of their most popular series, Drunken Cinema, is an ode to nostalgic movies from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s with an interactive twist: there’s a fun pre-movie show, and attendees are given glow sticks and a movie-based prompt.
Part screening and part drinking game, the rules are simply: when the attendees’ prompt appears on screen (certain iconic lines, for example) they must take a drink. It’s an enthusiastic, loud and decidedly social moviegoing experience.
Serena Whitney, programming director at the Revue, says that these interactive screenings – including Drunken Cinema – are big draws, pulling in both Revue regulars and new customers. Other popular screening series at the Revue include Dumpster Raccoon, where they screen trashy cult classics alongside live performances, and Saturday morning all-you-can-eat cereal cartoon parties.
A sold-out crowd watch a 3D screening of 1984's Friday The 13th: Part III at The Revue Cinema.
Aside from being a whole lot of fun, these screenings also help convert newcomers to regulars, adding to the theatre’s overall business viability.
“People come for the movie, that’s the initial draw, but they return because of the experience they had,” she says, adding that the profits made from these events help fuel their other programs. Plus, these special events have a way of getting movie-goers to socialize, transforming the theatre into a community hub.
“I’ve seen people meet in lines for events and become best friends,” she says. “Or, go on a first date and now they bring their kids.”
They’re also just one example of how theatres are transforming going to the movies into major events.
The movie theatre business has been in decline for years. Before the pandemic, North American cinemas would rake in between $10 and $11-billion annually, but barely reached $9 billion in 2025.
According to Charlie Keil, a professor at the Cinema Studies Institute at the University of Toronto, the exhibition sector is suffering for a number of reasons.
The pandemic drove people to streaming services and their couches. Shortened theatrical releases and the speed at which movies are made available for at-home viewing has also disincentivized going out to the cinema.
Audience participation and fan costumes are encouraged at Drunken Cinema events.
“If you’re a casual movie-goer and if there’s a movie you think that’s worth seeing, but you can watch it in the comfort of your home and pay the same price in a month, it really puts a chill on elective film going,” he says.
Theatre-owners are doing whatever they can to "have special events and activities that you can’t reproduce at home and get more people to come,” Marvin Ryder, an associate professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at McMaster University explains. “There isn’t any movie theatre I can point to that is bucking the trend and seeing tremendous increases in turnout. They’re all trying to survive and hang on.”
For example, you might see singalong events or dress-up opportunities, like at the Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings at Halloween or the Barbie phenomenon.
In Ottawa, the ByTowne Cinema is finding success with interactive special event screenings. They run regular interactive programs that frequently draw crowds and sell out.
“I’ve seen people meet in lines for events and become best friends. Or, go on a first date and now they bring their kids.”
- Serena Whitney, Revue Cinema
“It’s a supply and demand thing: our audience is telling us by coming out and supporting that they like [these interactive events]. And we’re all but too happy to oblige,” says ByTowne’s marketing manager Eric Lavigne.
It seems to be working. The annual Strength of Theatrical Exhibition report from Cinema United, the world’s largest exhibition trade association, found that Gen Z theatre-going increased by 25 per cent over the past year and cinema loyalty club membership rose by 15 per cent since 2024.
As novel as these interactive events are, this is nothing new – movie theatres have experimented with new audience draws ever since talkies overpowered silent movies and cinemas had to fight against television’s popularity. IMAX movies are another, more established, way for theatres to draw audiences in, as are premium experiences like VIP at Cineplex, where a specialized menu is served right to your seat.
Fans can take home a souvenir poster from The Drunken Cinema event.
Audiences often shout out famous lines or cheer at iconic moments at Drunken Cinema screenings.
Mr. Keil also points to reissues or restorations of classic films tied to milestone anniversaries as strategies to bring in customers. “All of those may draw fans because the viewing experience is enhanced in a way that you wouldn’t get if you were sitting at home,” he says.
Mr. Lavigne at the ByTowne says that it’s an honour to transform going to the movies from a solitary activity to a fun communal one.
“If you’re singing in a theater and you hear ‘Dancing Queen’ from Mamma Mia, every neuron in your body is telling you to sing along, and we've created this space where you can do that with hundreds of people,” he says. “Go for it, sing! Everybody else will join you.”