Movie theaters face closure

It’s the death of the small-town movie theater, and even remote northwest Montana isn’t immune from the plague.

By this time next year, the era of 35mm film will have come and gone, replaced by digital projection.

A digital projector, on the bare-bottom lowest end of things, will still cost upward of $60,000. More likely is the price tag of $100,000 for a new one.

The Dome, Libby’s movie house, and Lincoln Theater in Troy must adapt or shut their doors for good. By 2015, no 35mm film reels will be made anymore in the United States. 

Twentieth Century Fox was the first studio to announce its decision to go fully digital and will taper 35mm production to a close by the end of this 2012.

Tina Moore, owner of Lincoln Theater, posted on the theater’s Facebook page that it would be more difficult to show movies by the end of the year.

“There will be only 500 35mm prints for the middle part of the country,” she said, referring to the vast swath of country between coasts. “We’re looking into trying to find money, but it’s getting harder and harder.”

Recent estimates from the National Association of Theatre Owners foretell a bleak future for small-town movie theaters. 

A full 20 percent of the theaters in North America, or 1,000 theaters, representing 10,000 movie screens, will shut their doors.

Allie Gilden, owner and manager of The Dome, has no idea what she is going to do.

   “I only bought the theater a year ago,” she said. “I knew this was coming, but I didn’t know how fast.”

Gilden bought the theater in June 2011, and wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“I feel like if I said anything now it would be inappropriate,” she said