![]() "We've got an awful lot of people out here that really want to help out," says Muth. Like other theaters across the country, the family has started a fundraising campaign. That's because they rely on package booking for all three of their screens. "If we lose one, we lose them all," says Muth. The Muths also own the town's indoor Center Cinema Twins. Despite its pastoral charm, the Starlite is severely threatened by digital conversion. It operates Fridays through Sundays, and Muth personally runs the box office. Everybody had to go look at 'em, you know." "I had someone come in with two baby 'coons one night. "We've had as many as 23 or 24 dogs in there on any one night, and believe it or not, all the dogs know the other dogs are there but they don't cause a fuss," says Bill Muth. ![]() ![]() People come from as far away as Milwaukee and Minnesota for the experience. This lovely 300-car drive-in set in a rural valley evokes Field of Dreams imagery. So here are the four drive-ins within easy driving range of Madison, all of them family-owned. It's about highly recommended summer outings. Madison once had two drive-ins, the Big Sky, today the site of Marcus Point Cinema, and the Badger Outdoor, on Highway 51, opposite what today is Madison College. "I think people forget that when Avengers opened up with $200 million for the weekend - which is crazy - the studio is getting about 90% of every dollar during the first week," he says. Bruss notes that profit margins for all theaters are small. He's also working on a parallel book about Wisconsin drive-ins past and present. They can't afford it," says Charles Bruss, a West Allis resident who oversees the encyclopedic. "That's the thing I worry about for drive-ins. And we're making it as fast as we can," says Bill Muth, who owns Richland Center's threatened Starlite 14 with his wife, Lisa. In an industry where profits lie primarily in concessions, that's a whole lot of popcorn. The cost for conversion per screen starts at $75,000. Hardest hit will be drive-ins, who face a 50% up-charge for special outdoor equipment. The National Association of Theatre Owners estimates that the country will lose 20% of its cinemas - around 10,000 screens. One year from this month, there will simply be no new 35-millimeter releases to project.īoth indoor and outdoor theaters are threatened. Hollywood demands expensive conversion to digital projection. The bargains remain, but the surviving venues are threatened. A double feature for the whole family? Maybe with pony rides before and fireworks after? Comfortable in our cars or lazing on a blanket, with stars overhead and crickets at hand, perhaps with our first love, we participated in a communal cinema event.Īlso, we saved a bundle. But once, we preferred to put pajama-clad kids in the backs of our station wagons to see the latest epic on a big, big screen: as much as 140 feet across (nearly twice the size of a standard Imax). ![]() Today, many are content to watch blockbusters on handheld screens the size of fists. Four remain within easy driving distance of Madison, offering a rare glimpse of theater thrills from summers past. In a year, all but the strongest will be dead, thanks to a radical change in film projection. If you've never been to a real, all-American drive-in movie theater, you better go now.
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