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Attendance.
A single word explains the message on the marquee above the box office at Vali Twin Cinema in Powell — CLOSED THROUGH OCTOBER.
Actually, the grim message was the same in …
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Attendance.
A single word explains the message on the marquee above the box office at Vali Twin Cinema in Powell — CLOSED THROUGH OCTOBER.
Actually, the grim message was the same in September. And it’s now early November, and Vali is entering a third month of closure.
“We’ve been closed because we can’t afford to be open,” an emotional Brandon Asay said. “We need support, or we close.”
He and his wife Diedre purchased the theater in 2014 from family members. The historic movie house, known for years as Teton Theater, has been in the same two-story building on Powell’s main street for 106 years.
Ticket sales in the post-Covid years have dropped dramatically, down 75% since 2019.
“We sold more tickets in January to March of 2020 than we have sold in all of 2025,” Diedre said. “In a nutshell, that’s why we closed.”
Sixty percent to 70% of revenue from ticket sales goes to pay the movie makers in Hollywood. The balance is committed to business overhead.
“The price of insurance and everything else has continued to climb,” Brandon observed.
“We haven’t been able to pay ourselves on a regular basis in a couple of years,” Diedre added.
Sales from the concession stand have been about the only thing that have helped to keep the business going.
There are contributing factors to the decline in moviegoers, not the least of which is bad movies coming out of Hollywood, according to the Vali owners.
“The movies just aren’t good,” said Diedre. “We’re not getting quality movies to put on our screen.”
Brandon said the popularity of streaming movies from home has also made the business more challenging since Covid.
“It’s nationwide,” he said. “People just aren’t coming out to the movies when they can stay home and stream the same thing.
“When people are coming, it’s a fun business. When they’re not coming, it’s not fun.”
Still, the possibility of a Vali reopening is not completely off the table.
“Basically, we want to reopen for the holidays,” Diedre offered. “But it’s a huge risk.”
The Asays also said they are actively trying to sell the Vali Cinema property.
