With cinemas closed across the world due to the covid-19 pandemic, drive-in cinemas are enjoying a resurgence in popularity, offering movie-goers who have been holed up in their homes a chance to have a cinema experience in the comfort of their cars.
A drive-in cinema is an outdoor movie theatre usually in a large parking area where audiences watch movies from the comfort of their cars with the sound coming from their car stereo.
While Nigerian film exhibitors have also started looking the way of the drive-in cinema, Lagosians will have the chance to experience this innovation as 7Eleven Entertainment is set to play host to film lovers today May 30 at The Lekki Coliseum.
In a statement made available to TCN on Friday, organisers said the cinema experience would adhere strictly to the social distancing measures put in place to stem the tide of the pandemic.
With tickets pegged at N3,000 per person, N5,500 for two and N10,000 for four, organisers say “even during the lockdown, you can have the best of fun you could ever imagine.”
According to the organisers, food and drinks are allowed into the venue, adding that “while coming together to stay apart, this is the foremost cinema experience that adheres strictly to the social distancing measures.”
The Lagos drive-in cinema experience is coming at a time when Abuja, the federal capital territory, is ready to experiment with a double – a drive-in cinema and concert.
In fact, the Abuja exoerience was planned to hold on May 25 through the Nollywood filmmaker, Charles Okpaleke, who had planned to screen his critically acclaimed film, ‘Living in Bondage’ the sequel at the Transcorp Hilton car park in Abuja, employing the drive-cinema template and a drive-in concert featuring StylePlus.
However, the events could not hold due to the heavy downpour in Abuja on that day. In a message put up on his social media handles, Okpaleke said the drive-in concert would now hold on Monday. He said tickets purchased for the May 25th show would still be valid for Monday.
Tickets are sold per car, at N5,500 per person; N10,000 for two and N12,500 for three people.
Drive-in cinemas have experienced a surge in attendance in the US, Germany and France as well as parts of Asia as the coronavirus continues to put a strain on movie industries across the world.
As nearly all flights have been suspended in order to contain the spread of the virus, major international airports have converted their hangers and open fields into drive-in cinemas.
Last month, over hundred cars showed up to watch Oscar-winning Korean drama, Parasite, at a makeshift drive-in cinema in Vilnius airport in Lithuania.