“All theaters are struggling right now,” Yates said. “Basically any business that consists of people sitting indoors for any sustained amount of time has — any type of theatrical event that involves people being inside — has had it tough.”

After closing its doors for months during the pandemic, Playhouse reopened its doors in mid-September showing old movies.

“We’ve been showing older movies trying to stay open and give the community an option of something to do,” Yates said. “Not a lot of people are coming right now. Hollywood isn’t releasing any new movies.”

Through Thursday, Oct. 8, the theater is showing “Footloose” (1984), “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) and “Hocus Pocus” (1993). Yates said the theater would be getting a new film on Friday, “The War with Grandpa.”

“After that, I have no idea about new releases,” Yates said. “I can’t tell you a single big title new release until April of next year. Hollywood is pushing movies back to 2021, hoping by then COVID will be settled down a little bit more.”

Large theater chains including Regal and AMC both closed their doors for several months over the summer before reopening, and Regal recently announced it will be closing theaters once again.

“Regal is closing 500 theaters this month,” Yates said. “AMC will probably follow. Us independent theaters are trying to stay open, keep the doors open and pay the little bills.”

The theater is limiting capacity to 50 people in a theater, and Yates said that capacity has not nearly been reached since reopening.

“You don’t have to worry about a lot of people being in, so there is plenty of social distancing,” Yates said. “We have plenty of hand sanitizer for people. We’re just asking people to use common sense. And if you don’t feel comfortable being indoors, we understand.”

All three movies currently playing are showing at 7 p.m. through Thursday. For more showtimes or information, visit www.playhousecinemas.net or call 256-234-2509.