Rantz: The Seattle movie theater experience is dead, likely won’t recover

The movie theater experience in Seattle is circling the drain, and no amount of buttery popcorn or fancy “premium” seating is going to save them at this rate.

I recently caught Thunderbolts* at the downtown Seattle Regal—across the street from the downtown AMC Pacific Place, in the mall that is mostly abandoned—and I was one of the few living souls in the place. There were only five others in the theater for an opening weekend blockbuster.

It wasn’t superhero fatigue that kept people away. Thunderbolts* brought in an impressive $79 million domestically. And the few other times I’ve been to Seattle movie theaters in the last few months? They’ve been as dead. But I can’t blame people for staying away from the movie theaters in Seattle.

Empty Seattle auditoriums, full wallets

Seventeen bucks for a matinee ticket. Then there are the drinks: 12 bucks for a Coke Zero in a cup that, even as a small, will have you missing key scenes while you spend time at the urinal. More distracting than the price is that, depending on which auditorium you’re in, you can faintly hear and definitely feel an action film in the adjacent auditorium.

The two escalators to get you to the theaters at the Regal in downtown Seattle were broken. Last time I was there, only one was operational. It’s as if the movie theater is run by Sound Transit.

If this is the “premium experience,” I’d rather park on the curb and stream at home. It’s cheaper and more convenient.

What about SIFF Downtown?

Movie buffs will likely chide me for calling out the Seattle movie theater scene for not singing the praises of SIFF Downtown, formerly Cinerama. But it’s undeserving of the praise.

The screen and sound are amazing. But the “rocking chairs” in the auditorium are torture devices.

The seats automatically recline unless you lean forward. But they don’t recline all the way like you would in an office chair. You have to actively lean back or you’re stuck in this pre-lean limbo. Sit back for two hours engaging your entire core? You’re not there for an ab workout.

Theaters are closing

I’m not suggesting movie theaters are completely dead across the state. Alderwood Mall gets a steady flow of movie-goers. So does the Southcenter Mall, though you do risk a car break-in (or stabbing) when you visit. Thunderbolts* was surprisingly good, but not worth a Southcenter Mall kind of hassle.

But it’s hard to deny the problems facing Seattle movie theaters.

On January 30, 2025, AMC yanked the plug on its Seattle 10 location in the University District, leaving students with no cheap, moldy seats to settle into. Similarly, Grand Illusion Cinema closed its U-District theater.

What happened in Seattle?

The pandemic was the final nail in the theater’s coffin, but so is our collective laziness. Netflix binges are comfortable, inexpensive, and come with pause buttons. Guess what theaters don’t have? Pause buttons.

Despite what some naysayers claim, there have been plenty of exceptional and accessible films that should be seen on big screens: Dune 2, Flow, Better Man, and, as every critic has noted, Sinners. But yes, it’s also competing with historically good television in the last several years (Severance, The Last of Us, The Agency, The White Lotus, and The Pitt).

And Seattle’s theaters aren’t making it easy to lure people back in. They’ve become way overpriced, half-dead monuments to a bygone era. If we want the silver screen to stay silver—and not turn to rust—we need better facilities, and perhaps most importantly, stop letting chains gouge us.

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