In October 2019, master filmmakerMartin Scorsesefamously opined that movie theaters had become diluted.

These details included investments in adding bowling alleys and arcades to some multiplexes.

  • So dont go in expecting ziplines anytime soon.

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As a cinephile who, indeed, writes about cinema for a living, this could leave mixed feelings.

It would seem Scorseses fear of cinemas increasingly drifting toward the theme park aesthetic is coming to pass.

Which brings us back to those bowling alleys, arcades, and phantom ziplines.

Steve Martin dancing in Pennies from Heaven

But at the same time, it seems like a shrewd strategy.

But that was in 1978.

Today with the proliferation of online shopping, the mall is itself on the verge of extinction.

Katharine Ross and Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate Ending

Nonetheless, young people and families still need places to go for entertainment and activity.

They still need amusements.

Tomorrow it could be a theater house where multiplex screens are just one of several options for family-friendly activities.