Odyssey 7 In Marietta Continues Weathering The Storm

MARIETTA, OH — Regal Cinemas announced recently that they would be reopening their Grand Central Mall location on May 21. They’ve been closed for most of this pandemic. Most of the non-drive-in movie theaters around the nation have been. But not all. Odyssey 7 in Marietta has been jumping through hoop after hoop to stay open so you and your family can still have a (somewhat) normal night out.

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David Oliver has been the General Manager of Odyssey 7 Cinema since 2011. He says things had been great for the company, until March of 2020. “We were closed from March to June. We reopened until August when we closed again. We’ve been reopened since September.”

The decision to reopen was a hairy one because there was a major question for any movie theater owner had to ask, what would they even show? “The studios stopped releasing movies because all the bigger cities still had their theaters closed.” So, Odyssey started playing the classics. Jurassic Park, Tommy Boy, Ferris Bueller, Back To The Future I, II, and III, etc.

Recently, the studios have been releasing new movies. And while Odyssey still isn’t selling out theaters yet, Oliver says it’s a lot better than it was. “Especially Godzilla Versus Kong, that gave us a real good boost last weekend.”

Oliver said Odyssey stayed open while other movie companies closed because that’s the kind of company they are. “We did have to cut way back. Reduced our staff and our hours.” He said this was tough for everyone. While being open had its own crop of problems, there were issues facing theaters that made the decision to close. “The whole time you’re closed you still have rent. You still have salaried employees.”

Despite Odyssey doing everything they could to keep the silver screen flickering through this pandemic, they’re still behind. “It still isn’t where it should be for this time of year.” He says things keep getting better. “Especially with the stimulus money.” He says it’s a good thing whenever people get spending money in their pocket. “Movie theater’s kind of a second thought once you get all your regular bills paid.”

They are also renting out entire auditoriums. “We have a website. You can follow, have a viewing party.” People can bring their own movies or play a movie they have in stock. Anyone interested can call the corporate office and work out a deal with concessions included. Oliver says this has been very popular lately for birthday parties.

They had been at 25% capacity but they’ve been able to up that number to 50%. Oliver is hesitant to say the worst is over for the theater, but he hopes so. He does say that Odyssey is here to stay. “There hasn’t been any indication that we won’t be.” He asks folks to come on back out. “It’s safe and we need you. We need you to stay around.”

Right now the theater is only open on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Tuesday is still their value day. They still have Magic Bucket popcorn refills for $.50, and admission is only $5.

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