ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Guinness World Records declare that the summer blockbuster was invented in 1975, when Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” leapt out of the water and landed more than $250 million in the U.S. box office. Nearly 50 years on, summertime is synonymous with cinema. Studios plan their tentpole franchise films for coveted weekends in May, June and July. Superheroes, fast cars and alien lifeforms populate the silver screen with impunity for hordes of eyeballs eager to watch them.
That is, they were.
Over the last five years, the box office has dwindled to a shell of the cultural force it once was. In 2019, nine films grossed more than $1 billion in worldwide release, according to Box Office Mojo. Twenty made more than $400 million. An astonishing 75 flicks made more than $100 million.
In 2024, 18 films have grossed more than $100 million. Four movies have cracked $400 million. Only one has crossed the billion-dollar threshold, and it is “Inside Out 2,” an animated family film.
Gone are the fast cars and explosions. Gone are the astronauts stranded in outer space. Gone are the superheroes. Gone, it seems, are the eyes that used to go out to see these films.
Granted, it is only the halfway point of the year. There could be a miraculous turn in the third and fourth quarters of studio releases that rear bountiful box office receipts that make the bygone days of 2019 and 1975 seem like chump change.
It is possible. It does not appear likely.
If summer blockbusters are in jeopardy, independent cinema is facing armageddon. And unlike “Armageddon,” the Bruce Willis blockbuster that grossed more than $500 million in its release in the summer of 1998, independent films lack even the cultural habit that summer blockbusters wield.
Yet, independent films are alive and well in Asheville.
Asheville sports three independent movie theaters:
- The Grail Moviehouse, 17 Foundy St. in the River Arts District
- The Fine Arts Theatre, 36 Biltmore Ave. in downtown Asheville
- Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co., at 675 Merrimon Ave. in North Asheville
Each has its own unique style, story and selection of screenings. Each has its own approach to crafting an independent theatrical experience. All three share a common hurdle in surviving the moviegoing landscape. Here is what Asheville Pizza and The Grail had to say about their successes and struggles and what to expect from the movie theaters of the future.
The Grail Moviehouse
The Grail is unusual, even by Asheville standards. The small theater is tucked away at Foundation, the graffiti-laden skate park and retail oasis in the River Arts District. Its exterior facade is an eclectic mural of movie references, which would clearly indicate its interior operations if it was not located in a part of town with several nearby murals of the same ilk. A small sign can often be found before the front doors that reads “yes, we are a movie theater.”
Inside, the same exuberant celebration of cinema that its mural conveys is exacerbated. The Grail is chock-full of movie knickknacks and film tchotchkes, art prints and signed posters. Its whiteboard menu has carefully illustrated lightsabers and Bat-signals amid popcorn and craft beer prices. It is a warm, welcoming environment, as much a cool snack bar as a box office. This, too, is occasionally misleading for visitors. The Grail staff is used to explaining that, no, it is not a movie-themed bar, and, yes, there are movies playing just down the hall.
The Grail is owned and operated by couple Davida Horowitz and Steve White, who opened the theater together in May 2016 and can still be found many days behind the box office counter, scooping popcorn.
“I think our mutual love for movies made me want to do it,” White said.
Horowitz had a slightly more pragmatic explanation, overlapping with White. This is a pattern speaking with The Grail owners: two distinct voices interrupting, supporting and weaving lovingly in and out of each other’s way, much like two competing films on their marquee.
“There were a lot of independent movies coming out, and we wanted to see them,” Horowitz said. “A lot of people were building and making things, and every time something would open, we’d be like ‘what’s it gonna be?’ It got to a point where if somebody else would have done it, we would have regretted not doing it.”
One of those independent movies was “The Wolfpack,” a 2015 documentary that played in a mere 94 theaters worldwide. In independent release terms, however, that was a lot, especially in the eyes of White.
“It was around the time that “The Wolf Pack” was out and it was playing everywhere but never hit Asheville. And we were thinking how many movies like this were being released all over the country but not shown here,” White reminisced. “So, we had a hunch that smaller films could support a theater. That was the goal, and we didn’t know if it was going to work or not.”
It took a while for The Grail to find its feet. The theater was originally planned for a spot near McCormick Field, home of the Asheville Tourists, but that struck out. Then, the theater found a home at the end of a long hallway off South French Broad Avenue but moved to Foundation after the COVID-19 pandemic closed that location. The Foundation location went through a lengthy renovation process, but continued operations until its completion in December 2022, when The Grail was finally restored to three screening rooms.
With its location decided, the challenge was then proving itself as a destination for the movie-curious. Part of that was figuring out who the audience for their selections was.
“There is a real mix,” Horowitz said.
“We had on our card at first a thing that said, ‘movies people love for people who love movies,’” White added. “Some people love real obscure art film, challenging, you know, and we’ve had plenty of success with those types of movies. And some people love just comfort food. Most people do not like stupid.”
The Grail blends its art house selections with the occasional blockbuster but has also experimented with repertory screenings or the showing of old movies in a one-night-only event. These range from cult classics, dubbed Cinemania with a Q&A hosted by Grail employee Michael Wheeler, to Masterpiece Classics, as The Grail calls screenings of revered older films.
“The same people that will come to a Cinemania screening, that will come to the Masterpiece Classic screening will also come and watch, like, “Ghostlight,”” Horowitz said. “A good movie’s a good movie if you want to see a good movie. And here’s a lot of people who like to watch good movies. I don’t know how to describe it other than that.”
Those special community events are a big part of why Horowitz and White think their theater has stuck around. The Q&As and hosts that accompany Grail repertory screenings have attracted an audience that appreciates them.
“When you add that extra element like when Michael Wheeler does a talkback for a classic or when Ty and Michael do the Cinemania, that’s part of the reason you want to come,” White said.
“Even for the people that don’t stay, they know someone’s choosing that in particular,” Horowitz added. “And it’s kind of curated, too.”
The word still has to be spread, however. The Grail, no matter how strong the community is around it, is still a small community movie theater.
“Literally, every day someone will come in and say, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize you were here, oh, this is my first time back at the movies, oh, this is my first time back since you moved,’” Horowitz laughed. “So, it’s still locals.”
However, the couple is optimistic about the future, despite what stories like this one might say.
“You can’t always listen to the headlines because the headlines are super doom and gloom,” Horowitz said. “We had a better January, February, March than we’ve ever had. People were coming out. I think everybody was doing great. And then when it always tanks, it tanked.”
“When every movie does something, we could survive. If you get a series of movies that tanked, then it’s a problem,” White concurred.
But, as always, that was not the end of the story for The Grail.
“It tanked for a little longer than normal this year, and that’s where you’re getting all the headlines,” White said. “But it’s picking up for [multiplexes], and we’re not running “Inside Out,” but it’s picking up for us.”
Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co.
An independent theater that did run “Inside Out 2” is Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co. Just a few years ago, that would have been a shock.
Asheville Pizza began life on Merrimon Avenue as a second-run theater, playing movies freshly out of multiplexes and big chains for $3 a ticket. The theater could run three movies a day, with a family feature during the day, a blockbuster hit in the evening and an older cult or “so bad it’s good” movie at a 10 p.m. screening.
That all changed when COVID and its accompanying streaming service army arrived on the scene.
“Movie companies who were very pleased and couldn’t care less if we were showing ‘Baron von Neuhausen’ or older stuff like that, because there was no way for them to really get them out there,” began to withdraw their films to reserve them for streaming libraries,” Asheville Pizza president Mike Rangel said. “It became really difficult to get second-run films. So, then we decided to take the jump into first-run.”
Asheville Pizza became a first-run theater in October 2021 with the James Bond film “No Time to Die.” The new system meant tickets were more expensive, jumping from $3 to $10, but could allow Asheville Pizza to stay open.
Becoming a first-run theater with a single screen meant more responsibility to the studios that were distributing their films, which meant only a single movie could be shown a day.
“Every single screening that we do in there for the next three weeks has to be ‘Despicable Me 4,’” Rangel said. “You have to run them clean. That prevents us from showing at 10 o’clock weird cult film, because if we’re showing something, it has to be ‘Despicable Me.’”
That limitation means that it could be a huge gamble for the theater if Rangel picks the wrong film.
“We’ll have ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ coming in three weeks, and we can’t show anything else but that. So, on 1 o’clock on a Sunday, sure, there’ll be a few people to see ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ but they’re pretty hard Rs,” Rangel said. “We’re hoping it’s a hard PG-13 or light R to attract 12 and up.”
Rangel mourns the loss of showing weird and anniversary films at Asheville Pizza but appreciates the other independent theaters Asheville has in town.
“That’s one of the things I love about having, one, the Fine Arts guys here, and two, The Grail here. The Grail does a great job of keeping it different and bringing stuff in there,” Rangel said. “I miss that freedom. We basically show what’s the safest. ‘Despicable Me 4’ versus, you know, other crazier stuff like that. So, it’s great to see The Grail, that there’s still a place for that.”
However, Rangel is not blind to the difficulty those theaters are having, not to mention the blows of chain theaters like Cinemark, which has a location called The Carolina in South Asheville.
“Hollywood’s having a tough time,” Rangel said. “I don’t know how The Carolina does it with eight screens or 12 screens. I would go crazy.”
With only two screens to fill, Asheville Pizza could settle for finding first-run hits. However, in its second screening room, it occasionally pays the fees for repertory kids movies, which has proven a success, and Rangel has more plans for the future.
“One of the things we’re kicking around for the fall is to continue to do the kids movies and then potentially do Spanish language or Bollywood or Ukrainian films for the evening,” Rangel said. “Just go for a whole different demographic. We’ve had a tough time catching that niche, communicating with those folks. A lot of folks want to see first-run movies with Spanish subtitles.”
The thing that makes Asheville Pizza a truly special independent theater experience is right in its name. The theater has a bar in the back of its primary screening room where customers can order from the brewery’s large selection of pizza, sandwiches, sides and beverages, then enjoy them on tables set in front of their stadium theater seats. At the end of the day, Asheville Pizza is out to make good pizza and good beer. The movies, Rangel said, are a bonus.
“We would have done it for free,” Rangel said. “Because we just want, you know, to sell beer and pizza.”
The things each theater in Asheville has in common are a love for movies and a desire for a community to share them with. While locals are a big part of that, Rangel, White and Horowitz all reflected on tourist curiosity about their theaters, a trait the Fine Arts Theatre shares.
In a recent screening of “Janet Planet” at the Fine Arts Theatre, a brief survey of the room showed that every person there was a visitor from out of town.
One young woman was in tears after the credits rolled.
“I’m only here for 10 days,” she said. “But I had to see this one.”
Movies are out there for those who want them. The Grail, Asheville Pizza and the Fine Arts Theatre are out to ensure that will always be the case in Asheville.
More information about The Grail and its showtimes can be found on its website, www.grailmoviehouse.com or by emailing White and Horowitz at grailmoviehouse@gmail.com.
More information about Asheville Pizza showtimes and its menu can be found at www.ashevillebrewing.com.
More information about the Fine Arts Theatre can be found at www.fineartstheatre.com.