The Pandemic Crushed Most Movie Theaters – But This 27-Year-Old’s Chain Doubled In Size
on a 65-foot screen. He improvised new revenue streams: painting the exterior of two multiplexes white to serve as drive-in screens, turning 9 acres of cow pasture into paintball courses and packaging gallon jugs of margaritas and at-home movie night snack kits for pickup and delivery. While many competitors remained shut, he generated buzz with a summer drive-in film festival and a faux pumpkin patch offering horror flicks and Halloween milkshakes, both spiked and alcohol-free.
just 15% lower than in 2019, and by the second quarter the operation turned profitable again. Roberts owns 60% of Evo, his two sisters the rest. third-generation oilman. But after months of discussions, he concluded Roberts was on to something—the “crowd business” would survive not only Covid but also streaming and cheap 65-inch TVs. “We live in an experience economy. People crave experiences. They want to get together,’’ declares Roberts, a member of this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 class. Under their deal, Sheffield’s family office has committed up to $125 million to renovate and buy properties. Evo will get a management fee of around 2.
With financing lined up, in 2014 Roberts dropped out of his freshman year at Texas State to build the 70,000-square-foot facility, including 11 screens, 14 bowling lanes, a video game arcade and a full kitchen producing gastropub fare—burgers, pizza, even teriyaki salmon. He quickly spent “every penny” of the $15 million and will soon upgrade the movie seats to $600 recliners with trays.
Then Covid-19 hit. The domestic box office take collapsed to $2.1 billion in 2020, crawling back to $4.5 billion in 2021. This past December, Roberts saw his big-event approach deliver again when Evo sold 62,000 opening-weekend tickets toin 2019. This being Texas, despite the rampaging Omicron variant, there were no vaccine requirements, temperature checks or capacity limits.
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