Free popcorn. Cheap booze. Private ‘Black Widow’ screenings. How movie theaters are luring fans back

Movie theaters are offering discounts on concessions, including popcorn, and special screenings to draw customers back to the big screen. Incentives, which vary by company, include free popcorn, movie poster giveaways and early showings of Questlove’s music documentary “Summer of Soul” and drawings for private screenings of Marvel’s “Black Widow.” Help from studios and other vendors is crucial for theaters at a time when exhibitors’ marketing budgets are tight and some companies, such as ArcLight Cinemas, have decided to give up. Cinemark, the nation’s third largest exhibitor, is hosting $5 screenings of the original 2001 “The Fast and the Furious” at its locations, which include multiple Los Angeles-area theaters. Cinema Week will hold drawings for five private watch parties for Marvel‘s “Black Widow,” Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” and 20th Century Studios’ “Free Guy.” Searchlight Pictures’ “Summer of Soul,” which premieres in early July, will screen early at theaters in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit and Seattle on Tuesday. At Los Angeles arthouse theaters, the Landmark on Pico will have a sneak peek of “Summer of Soul” on Tuesday for members of the chain’s free loyalty club.