There are certain movies that everyone just knows. They are an evergreen fixture in the collective world, with most of these movies having an almost cult-like following. Think about Back to the Future, Pulp Fiction or Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 
Most people who were alive and aware of these movies when they were first released have a story involving a trip to the movie theater to watch them. Between comments about how cheap tickets were back then and how there was no online option to buy, it is usually a story to envy. 
Imagine being able to watch these cultural icons on the big screen as they were designed to be seen. While nothing may top the original box office opening, some theaters still regularly screen classic movies. Some notable examples in Mississippi are theaters in Oxford and Tupelo. So, why not Starkville?
These screenings are typically a product of Big Screen Classics, a yearly lineup of classic movies to be rereleased. Fathom Events is over the project, with Turner Classic Movies being a large contributor up until this year. Most of the participating movie theaters are AMC or Regal Theaters, but not all.
The problem with the program is that its reach is limited. The closest participating theater is in Tupelo. Why is it that no classic movies are shown in Starkville when we have a perfectly good movie theater?
Seth Parsley, general manager of UEC Hollywood Premier Cinema in Starkville, claims that there are multiple factors that contribute. 
“There’s a huge financial aspect to it because even very classic, old movies have production companies that still own the rights to the movie,” Parsley said. “So, if we’re going to be selling to a public audience, we still have to pay them.”
Beyond that, hosting these Big Screen Classics means dedicating an entire auditorium to the movie for the duration of the run. 
“It’s really hard to justify bringing back an old classic move in an auditorium when we could put out a new movie that’s going to sell better,” Parsley said. 
The decision does not lie with the theater itself, though. The process of deciding which movie goes where is made on a larger, corporate scale. 
“The overall booker for the company makes all of the financial decisions on what movies we offer and don’t offer. Sometimes I have a little bit of input, like sometimes I’ll have a lot of customers ask about a particular movie that we weren’t selected to get due to it not having a wide release. But outside of suggestions, the booker for the overall company makes a lot of those decisions,” Parsley said.
Changes in how we consume our media have harmed Big Screen Classics, however. TCM pulled out of the project last year due to “an effort to prioritize resources,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. The root of the trouble lies in the shift to streaming. 
An article from the Los Angeles Times describes the future of the provider. “The channel depends on revenue from cable and satellite TV subscriptions, a diminishing financial resource as consumers have moved to streaming platforms for video content.”  
All of this helps to make sense of the decision not to bring back older movies. However, there is an audience for it, even if it may be a small one.
Allowing people the opportunity to experience these classics in a grand way would be one more attraction added to the Starkville community. Not only that, but certainly older generations would revel in the ability to revisit these classics in the same way they remember them.