By: Juanita Scott
As an avid lover of movies and what it takes to make them, I tend to find it hard to actually find a way to go see them nowadays. And I will be honest here, I do find that to be rather ironic on my part. If I love films so much, why don’t I actually make an effort to try and go see them more often?
After all, I am an adult now, and it’s not like my mom has to hold my hand every time I want to go to the movies or be selective in what movies she thinks I should watch. Aside from the fact that I am not legally able to drive, there should be nothing stopping me from engaging with something that I love, right? Wrong.
Ask anyone who is invested in the film industry, and they can tell you this: the landscape is not the same. I think about how different the industry was five years ago, and then I look back another five years, and so on and so forth. On one hand, streaming wasn’t as dominant as it is now. Yes, streaming existed five to ten years ago, but it didn’t have the power over the industry, and more importantly movie theaters, that it does now.
In fact, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed the changing role of theaters at the 2025 TIME100 Summit. Asked about making movies for theaters as a communal experience, Sarandos called it “an outmoded idea, for most people, not for everybody,” while also pointing to the difficulty many Americans face in accessing theaters.
I will admit that I was lucky enough to have a movie theater close to my neighborhood growing up. It’s a part of the AMC chain and is still there to this day. But admittedly, I didn’t go there that often, as I went to other locations around the city. Nowadays, since I moved, the nearest movie theater is around a 20-minute drive away, but where it gets interesting is how that translates to an hour-plus walk.
And this had me thinking that if transportation can create this kind of obstacle for me in an area with multiple movie theaters, I’m sure others face similar problems elsewhere. Since I have been in college, I have seen firsthand how infrastructure can play a role in this problem. Even though cars are faster than people on two legs, it does not seem right that a short drive can turn into such a long walk just to go see a movie.
Just on Sept. 28, I attempted to see the new Resident Evil movie at the AMC at Deptford, but since I don’t have a car, that bus trip back to my apartment was close to two hours. And it doesn’t stop at movie theaters. A five-minute car ride down the street in Glassboro easily turns into a 45-minute walk.
I will say, the number of theaters in this region alone is rather extensive. There’s the AMC Deptford 8, Cherry Hill 24 and Marlton 8, along with Regal theaters in Washington Township and at Cumberland Mall, to name a few.
But if I’m not able to just get to the theater itself without having to get a ride from someone, why should I bother going at all? Unfortunately, this is something that I have been battling with heavily over the last few years, and it severely upsets me as an admirer of film and as someone who wants to support filmmakers, actors, writers, etc., as much as possible.
I really do miss the community aspect that movie theaters always brought me, and it hurts that I can’t go as often as I would like, movie ticket prices aside. Being in South Jersey has connected me with so many people who just love film, from my classmates and professors to even people that I just meet randomly in the grocery store. And this is fascinating considering that I lived in Atlanta, a major film-production center, for two years.
Having the local and smaller connections that South Jersey has allowed me to make has been really meaningful as I move forward in what I like to do. Seeing other people’s tastes and skills, as well as learning from them, can be part of what makes someone successful in their field.
It would be much better for me if there were another theater much closer and within walking distance where I could just enjoy an art form that I admire so much. In fact, Glassboro once had a local movie house, the Glassboro Theatre, formerly the Roxy Theatre, at 100-108 E. High Street. The long-vacant theater was eventually demolished in 2013.
Even recently, the Regal Cross Keys Stadium 12 theater closed on Jan. 29, 2026, and until its closing, it had been open since 1994. This is separate from the Regal UA Washington Township theater that is still open in that same area.
In times such as this, when streaming services have become such a dominant way for audiences to watch newly released movies, though major event films can still draw large theatrical audiences, I do wish the old Glassboro theater was still around.
At least for me, as a film student in the region who wants to have more tangible access to the movies I want to watch, having local theaters around would make that access easier. Not that there is anything wrong with having an AMC or Regal around. I still go to those all the time and will continue to do so.
In fact, I saw a showing of Rear Window a few weeks ago at the Regal in Washington Township, so that isn’t the problem per se. There should just be some middle ground between having major chains and local theaters around to make film accessible for everyone.
And yes, I do have to think logically about this too, because putting a movie theater in the middle of a town requires a lot of thought about who it’ll end up affecting geographically and financially. While I do think there should be more accessibility in regard to watching films, it’d be disingenuous to ignore these factors that play into why a lot of local theaters get shut down in the first place.
The shift to streaming may be one factor, but in my experience, the locations of chain theaters do not always solve the accessibility problem either. In my experience going to the movies with family or friends, it’s mostly about brand recognition, as everyone knows AMC since its theaters are all over the country. And in relation to that, I have noticed that many of them are in convenient, high-traffic areas.
From the vast majority of AMCs I’ve visited throughout my life, I’ve noticed a lot of them are in malls and shopping centers. For smaller theaters, I’ve only ever seen them in more obscure locations that aren’t as convenient as a shopping center with a lot of people in it.
It’s not that moviegoers cannot find that sense of community in big chain theaters. I went to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day back in July, and that was a packed showing. IMAX showings for The Odyssey were virtually impossible for me to get this summer since everyone else decided to strategically get theirs months in advance. Those experiences show that major blockbuster releases can still bring large audiences together at chain theaters.
The “Barbenheimer” phenomenon offered another example of that communal experience. One of the main topics surrounding “Barbenheimer” was how people were going to go out and have a double feature at the movies when Barbie and Oppenheimer were released. So theatrical releases are still important in the modern film industry, despite the issues surrounding actual theater accessibility. If I had that accessibility all the time, I would have to agree with that statement.
But when I hear stories from people who went to their local theater when some of the greatest movies of all time were released, such as my mom when she went to see the original Star Wars in 1977, or when people went to see Jaws, or any movie pre-2000, I notice a difference in how they describe their memories of the theatrical moviegoing experience.
I really wish that the region had more of a hyperlocal focus when it comes to cinema, such as the former Glassboro Theatre or even the Broadway Theatre of Pitman, which tends to focus more on live performances. Having more local cinemas could replicate the former success of the past, and allow for people to have a closer relationship with the films they watch.
So yes, I can be somewhat of a downer that I can’t go to the movies as much as I would like, and I hope to see more of a shift down here. Having these theaters around would be a part of the change I would like to see. They’d be close enough to walk to, and it would also give consumers more options, whether that’s in relation to the theaters themselves or the selection of movies that get played. From the people I have interacted with in South Jersey, I can see that having more options would allow for more people to come together and enjoy the art that is cinema.
- For a South Jersey Film Student, Getting to the Movies Isn’t So Simple
- Trouble in Philadelphia: What Is Going On with the Eagles?
- Ushering in Fall with the 47th Annual Apple Festival
This article was produced as part of Follow South Jersey’s student journalism program, which provides aspiring journalists with practical experience in professional news reporting and writing.
