John 5 says movies theaters will be a “thing of the past” after pandemic

Guitarist John 5 (Rob Zombie) talked to Eddie Trunk podcast about the pandemic. And he said that he thinks that movie theaters will be thing of past.

John 5 interview with Eddie Trunk about pandemic:

When we kind of get the ‘all clear’ to go back to normal. How many people are gonna be too freaked out to even want to go back to these events? All these tours, everything’s getting pushed to the back end of this year. But the other factor is the fact that so many people are losing income. Are out of work and coming up on really hard cash-strap time. They bought the tickets when they had their jobs, now they want their money back… How many people are gonna be able to afford to support the amazing amount of shows at the end of the year?

“I personally think people are on their marks. They’re like at the racetrack, they’re at their front door waiting to get out. People really want to get out, and they want to get back to normal, they want to get back to their life.

“They want to go to concerts, want to see their friends, want to have a beer, want to buy a T-shirt, they want to go see their favorite band. I miss people.

“I really enjoy people, I’m one of those people that enjoys interactions with other people like fans, strangers, anything, I really like to talk to people. And I miss that interaction, but I believe people are gonna be ready to get the hell out of the house and go have some fun.”

Here’s the thing: we all know the paid meet-n-greet, VIP experience packages, and just when this started happening. KISS and some other artists pulled the paid meet-n-greets. I wonder in the bigger picture here. How does this change everything going forward. Will they continue, will people ever shake hands?

“With me, I don’t think anything’s going to change. A lot of people that come to my meet-n-greets. They come to multiple meet-n-greets and I know them. And it’s wonderful to see them. Some of them have come to 56-57 shows in a row.

“I love seeing these people, and I enjoy talking with them, and I give them a kiss. I’m not gonna change anything. I think this is a horrible, horrible thing that’s going on. But it will pass, and we will get back to normal life.

John 5 continued:

“The only thing I really think that is going to change is now we have these movies that are being sent right to our home. We can watch them on Amazon, we can watch them on our big TV and enjoy them. And we can pause them if we want. Not worry about the person eating next to us in the movie theater.

“I think that movie theaters are gonna be a thing of the past because they take up so much real estate and it’s very expensive, but now with this virus – they’re sending the movies right to your home, and you pay for them, of course, and I think movies are gonna do way better business now.

“And I really believe that movie theaters are gonna be a thing of the past. There will be some nostalgic ones, just like there are record stores, but I think in my mind that it might be something that’s going to go away sooner than later.”

I went to a movie just before all this happen. And I rarely go to the movies. It was this movie called ‘The Hunt’. And as soon the theaters closed, they immediately made it pay-per-view on TV, so you’re already seeing it happen.

“Absolutely, that’s my point. It’s now so easy to do that, you sit at the comfort of your home, and a lot of people have a TV. And if you have purchased a TV in the last I don’t know how many years. TVs automatically come with Amazon or Netflix, or both.

“And I believe that’s gonna happen because everybody will pay for that. ‘Oh my god, this new movie is out. Remember when we had to get dressed and we had to get out in the cold, and we had to scrape the ice off of the windshields to get to the movie?’ I think all of that is going to change.”

I still think for the most part that communal experience of going to a rock show and being with your buddies, seeing your favorite band, that’s an experience that can’t be recreated. And i think the live industry is gonna bounce back for sure. But it’s also gonna take a little time so. You’ve got an already really congested touring world now doubled or tripled to what it would be towards the back end of the year up against the backdrop of people coming off of really losing some money and their jobs. So I think it’s gonna take a while.

“I agree. I really, strongly believe the live-concert experience will never die. People will always go see music, it will never ever go away.

“I mean, I saw my first naked boob at a concert. It’s like people love going to shows, and it’s just something that this virus will never take over, that’s for sure.”