A tiny one-screen, 250-car drive-in is faced with its latest — and potentially most daunting fear, film distributors’ switching to digital. Drive-ins have survived 20-screen mammoths that rose like fortresses, Internet TV, which has allowed consumers to stream movies and cable series from their televisions, computers and smartphones. While saving distributors a considerable sum of money, going digital requires theaters to purchase new projectors at a cost of up to $100,000 per screen. It’s the most recent hit to an industry that has endured plenty of them since its 1950s and ’60s heyday. According to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association, the number of operating drive-in movie theaters in America has dwindled to 357, down from more than 4,000 in the late 1950s. In Missouri, just 13 drive-in theaters remain, with a total of 19 screens; Kansas features seven theaters and eight working screens. Drive-ins are a part of America just like any other working collectable, vintage and so on. Many Americans still enjoy sitting in their cars under the stars the thick breeze of fresh air enjoying a movie. It’s an American thing. If its still up running then use it and enjoy.
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