COVID-19 wreaked havoc on businesses far and wide, but movie theaters experienced some of the worst hurdles due to prolonged closures and films being pulled from release dates and released on streaming platforms instead.

Thousands across the globe had to shut their doors for good while many are still experiencing losses with a slow clientele return.

Though drive-in鈥檚 went out of fashion quite a few decades ago, Aldergrove鈥檚 Twilight Drive-In experienced a serge in popularity thanks to an already built-in socially isolated component.

Owner Jay Daulat initially sparred with the Provincial Health Office in the early days on the pandemic because of customer limitations, but has since gone to to embrace precautions and a slow and steady return.

鈥淭he concern is that the younger staff 鈥� mostly teenagers 鈥� are still awaiting their second COVID-19 vaccines,鈥� Daulat told The Star. 鈥淪o we are maintaining social distancing, asking people to wear masks, and keeping plexiglass barriers up in concession.鈥�

He noted masks are encouraged but not enforced.

The drive-in itself is still at 50 per cent capacity to accommodate safety, something Daulat said will be in effect until the very end of August, at least.

400 cars is maximum capacity 鈥� meaning there鈥檚 still 200 vehicles allowed at each screening.

鈥淭hat means one car between post markings instead of two to allow space,鈥� the owner explained.

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Daulat said he can鈥檛 say how people are feeling about indoor theatres about this point, but has noticed people are happy and attendance is good at his business in its peak summer season.

鈥淧eople are happy to have space and keep to themselves,鈥� he said.

With warm evenings comes flocks of movie goers packing into truck beds, pulling out lawn chairs, and settling in wearing pajamas and blankets.

Major Hollywood releases were delayed for much of the last year 鈥� big ones like Dune and Ghostbusters: Afterlife that would have pulled in a big audiences.

鈥淓verything we can get our hands on, we play. It鈥檚 a single screen, so now we鈥檙e mostly playing new shows as opposed to the older ones we we鈥檙e putting on last year,鈥� Daulat explained.

He expects the latest James Bond film 鈥� No Time to Die 鈥� to be a huge release for Twilight in September, as well as the aforementioned blockbusters.

鈥�F9, the latest Fast and the Furious film, did very well. We鈥檙e just ending Black Widow, which was very popular,鈥� he noted.

Despite a changing and turbulent time for the film industry, Daulat assured Aldergrove that the retro attraction 鈥� one of three drive-in鈥檚 left in B.C. 鈥� will be there for a long time to come.

Tickets can be bought at the theatre entrance, but Daulat does recommend people purchase ahead of time online.

More information and tickets can be found at .

Twilight Drive-In is located at 260 Street and Fraser Highway.