Coming Soon: The Summer When You’re Expected to

Coming Soon: The Summer When You’re Expected to Save Drive-In Movie Theaters Later this year, movie studios are scheduled to stop distributing films in old-fashioned 35-millimeter format. Everything will go digital, which is fine for the vast majority of indoor theaters that have already upgraded to digital projectors. It’s a different story with drive-ins, however, many of which find themselves in need of handouts to pay for the upgrade. Care to cough up a $100 donation on top of the cost of popcorn? Yes, there are still drive-in theaters in existence, though it’s rare for a state to have more a handful left. For example, there are eight drive-in theaters in Michigan, according to MichiganDriveIns.com. MLive reported that at least one of the existing theaters, the Capri Drive-In, just paid $144,000 to upgrade two of its projectors to digital. It’s unlikely that all of the other drive-ins will be able to do the same. Drive-ins are hardly big money makers; more than 150 others in the state have closed over the years. DriveInTheater.com has a state-by-state list of operational and dead drive-ins, and for every state, the deceased list is far longer. Once, more than 4,000 drive-ins dotted the nation. More than three-quarters of them closed by the late ’80s. (MORE: Why the World Needs a Kickstarter Veronica Mars Movie) Most of the drive-ins that have managed to stay in business aren’t in the position to devote tens of thousands of dollars to new equipment. In January, the Los Angeles Times estimated that 90% of the nation’s 368 existing drive-ins had not yet converted to digital projectors—not because they’re stuck in the past and love film, but because converting to digital costs a hefty $70,000 or so per screen. That’s why nostalgic movie fans around the country are being asked to “save the drive-in.” In Vermont, the Fairlee Drive-in and Motel (yep, you can watch movies from your car, or from a bed) has started a “Save the Drive-in” campaign that hopes to raise $70,000 for the projector upgrade. To do so, the business is selling T-shirts and posters, and it’s accepting

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