Small town movie theaters struggling

Movie fans enjoy a night at the Valley 6 Drive-In in Auburn, Wash., in the back of their pick-up truck.

OAK HARBOR, Wash. — As the digital clock keeps ticking, the owners and patrons of the Blue Fox Drive-In Theater that harks back to 1959 know it’s only a matter of months.

Their beloved place with all those memories of summer nights snuggled up, and sometimes even watching movies through windshield wipers in pouring rain, has to adapt or die.

And adapting is going to cost something like $80,000, not money that mom-and-pop operations on a shoestring have handy.

That’s how much a digital projector costs, and drive-ins like the Blue Fox, and their cousins — the theaters in small towns — have no choice.

The days of 35-millimeter film are nearly over. The reels have been replaced by a computer hard drive, and going digital costs plenty. (Story by Erik Lacitis, photo by John Lok, Seattle Times)

What’s the last movie you saw in theater?