A movie theater owner in Hoopeston, Illinois decided the show must not go on for a few weeks because he didn’t feel there was anything worth showing. The good folks over at Filmjunk.com led me to the original story at cinematical.com, here’s what the nice people over there had to say:
Friday marked the first day in two weeks that the Lorraine Theatre in Hoopeston, Illinois, was open for business. It was closed for this time because its owner, Greg Boardman, didn’t feel there was anything worth showing. Is he a film snob? Definitely not, as this weekend’s fare includes the generic pairing of Invincible and Open Season. Upcoming attractions include Flyboys; previous movies include Snakes on a Plane. Plus, Boardman also has an art house nearby currently running a Korean Film Festival and The Science of Sleep.
This is the great thing about being a business owner, especially of a theater, you get to pick what you like an if you don’t like anything, you can lock up and walk away for a few weeks. Is it right? I’m not sure, in some ways it’s being pretty selfish “I don’t wanna show that yucky movie here!”. But also as an entrepreneur he has to think what will be better financially; to keep it open and risk poor turn out with the high overhead of running a theater (I’m sure everyone reading this has experienced a chilly theater, it is very challenging and expensive to try and heat a space that big).
I can’t quite decide if he was just being a jerk or if he made the right choice. There is an audio interview here if you want to listen and decide for yourself. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks about this.
