‘Anora’ director says movie theaters are in trouble. How these NJ cinemas have hung on

Daniel Munoz northjersey.com Posted March 6, 2025 Link to Article

North Jersey’s independent movie theaters − the ones that still remain − have one big thing in common: they can't survive just on film screenings in an era when customers can watch almost anything they desire from the comfort of their living room. 

That was made clear Sunday during the 97th Academy Awards, when "Anora" director Sean Baker lamented that the traditional movie theater experience was “under threat.” 

“Movie theaters, especially independently-owned theaters are struggling,” the New Jersey native told the Oscars crowd at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. “During the pandemic, we lost 1,000 screens in the U.S. And we continue to lose them regularly. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry.”

In New Jersey, that battle is still raging, with an uncertain outcome.

At Westwood Cinema, a six-screen, 95-seat movie house on Center Avenue in Westwood, the theater does “a lot of school fundraisers, birthday parties, client corporate events,” spokesman Roger Tashjian said this week. 

“If it weren’t for that, we’d be out of business,” he said. 

Independent movie theaters in Maplewood, Paterson, Ramsey and Rutherford have closed in recent years, mirroring a nationwide trend.

Between 2019, the year before the COVID pandemic started, and 2023, an estimated 4,803 screens at movie theaters closed across the U.S., according to data collected by the analytics firm Omdia.

How local NJ movie theaters survive

At the Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, Executive Director Nina Larson said that the center goes beyond “merely film screenings” to “remain sustainable.” 

The Barrymore also hosts lectures, live comedy and musical performances and Q&A sessions with filmmakers, writers, producers and actors, Larson said. 

The center opened in 2022 and features a 260-seat cinema and film museum. It showcases classic American and foreign films, works of emerging artists, movie festivals and cinema education programs for students. 

“Our goal is to make a visit to the theater more than just watching a film,” Larson said in an email. 

Small cinemas are up against much larger movie theater chains like AMC, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas. And they face the even larger threat of home-streaming giants such as Netflix and Hulu.

One challenge for independently owned theaters, said Tashjian of Westwood Cinemas: The period when theaters can exclusively show movies before they head to streaming is getting shorter and shorter.

"Major technology corporations such as Apple and Amazon, following Netflix's lead, have pushed for people to watch films via streaming platforms and thus keep them glued to screens, from phones to tablets and so-called Smart TVs," said David Fresko, who teaches cinema studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. 

Curtain falls at several North Jersey theaters

Since the pandemic, theaters across North Jersey have shuttered for good. 

The Maplewood Theater, which opened in the 1920s, closed during the pandemic and never recovered as various reopening plans fell through. Developers are in the process of buying the property, said Angela Matusik, president of the Maplewood Film Society.

Matusik said the group has formed a nonprofit aimed at preserving the old theater and tried to sit down for talks with the would-be buyer, but those meetings haven't yet materialized.

Back in Bergen County, the historic Ramsey Theater also shut down during the pandemic and never reopened. 

Center Cinemas in Rutherford opened to the public in 2016 but shut its doors in 2023 after its rent went up. Its owner at the time, Shawn Stutler, told NorthJersey.com and The Record that the high price of real estate made it difficult for independent theaters such as his to stay open. 

Last April, the Fabian 8 Cinema in Paterson also shut its doors. Its owner said business never revived following the pandemic. 

And Ridgewood's Warner Theater, which opened its doors in 1932, closed for good in January 2024. 

“A certain type of theater is under threat,” that being the local, independent movie theater, said Albert Nigrin, who heads the New Jersey Film Festival based out of Rutgers in New Brunswick. 

“I don’t think the movie theater is going anywhere in the near future. But the small movie theater, many of them closed during the pandemic, and some haven’t rebounded since then,” Nigrin said.

Events and experiences are key to keeping theaters open

Ever since the pandemic, the New Jersey Film Festival has been presented partially in-person and partially online, which Nigrin said has attracted a more nationwide and global audience.

Events like the “Barbenheimer” screenings of the summer 2023 (in which movie-goers dressed up and watched "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie" back to back) are key to keeping theaters going, Nigrin said. 

“That was really one of our last good runs. We were jam-packed,” added Tashjian of Westwood Cinemas. 

Sing-along events like "Wicked" and Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" concert film have also been a boom for theaters, Nigrin said. 

“The fact remains that there is a tremendous amount of money still to be made by showing films theatrically,” said Fresko, the Rutgers cinema studies professor. 

Why go to a movie theater?

“Major box office successes such as 'Barbie,' 'Oppenheimer,' 'Inside Out 2,' and 'Wicked' testify to the irreproducibility of these experiences at home, which is what also propelled them into genuine cultural events,” he said. 

That was a key point of Baker's Oscars speech, in which he urged filmmakers to "keep making films for the big screen" and fans to keep showing up.

"Watching a film in the theater with an audience is an experience," he said. "We can laugh together, cry together, and, in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. It's a communal experience you don't get at home."