'Books, Not Popcorn': Movie theaters reinvent themselves as reading spaces

When the doors of the screen close, the rush of daily life fades away. Sinking into a plush recliner, visitors are enveloped by soothing music as a vast ocean fills the screen before them. Book in hand, they set sail on the adventures of Odysseus. Space, screen and seat combine in perfect harmony to create an extraordinary private library — one where a 3,000-year-old Greek epic unfolds slowly and deeply.

Movie theaters are reinventing themselves as giant reading rooms. So-called "book screenings" — where audiences bring books instead of popcorn and spend their time reading rather than watching a film — are drawing a growing following as a novel theater experience. Cinemas are capitalizing on their immersive screening environments to tap into the "text-hip" trend sweeping younger generations — the idea that reading is cool and sophisticated — and are expanding into multipurpose cultural spaces.

CGV has been running a "Book Club" series this year, inviting customers to read freely inside its premium screens. In March, it held the "CGV Book Club with 'Project Hail Mary'" to coincide with the film's opening, and on Monday it hosted the "CGV Book Club with Odysseia," giving participants a chance to read the classical epic that inspired director Christopher Nolan's film.

Every Book Club participant receives a complimentary copy of the featured title. Guests settle into recliners in CGV's Stressless Cinema auditorium for roughly two hours of immersive reading, accompanied by coffee and light refreshments. Calming visuals on the screen and high-fidelity audio transform the theater into an ideal reading environment.

Word of mouth has spread quickly, and tickets for the recent Odysseia event sold out faster than ever — a sign of strong customer enthusiasm for the in-theater reading experience. Cho Hee-jeong, who attended the Book Club, said the comfortable seating made it a great place to read. "It was the first time in a long while that I could focus entirely on a book without any distractions," she said.

The popularity of this blend of film, reading and the theater space reflects two converging trends: the text-hip wave among younger consumers and a broader shift in cultural consumption that extends beyond simply watching movies into reading, travel and other pursuits. The back-to-back box-office success of novel adaptations this year has also stoked audience curiosity about the source material, further fueling the text-hip momentum inside cinemas.

Seong Ho-gyeong, head of CJ CGV's IMC team, said the company designed the program to let audiences explore the world of novel-based films more deeply by pairing the original books with the theater environment.

The appetite for text-based content is evident beyond the multiplex. A record 160,000 visitors attended the Seoul International Book Fair last June, and reading-related content — from vlogs to reviews — continues to multiply across YouTube and other platforms.

Riding that wave, CGV staged an unconventional experiment last April Fools' Day, temporarily turning a theater into a bookshop. In partnership with publisher Munhakdongne, it transformed the seventh floor of CGV Yongsan iPark Mall into "Ssijip Bookshop," stocking more than 300 titles, and opened a dedicated reading-only screen where visitors could browse freely.

Theaters are also pushing further, positioning themselves as venues for humanities and cultural programming — not just reading.

Lotte Cinema has recently teamed up with Kyobo Book Centre on a range of cultural collaborations that make use of its theater spaces. The concept draws on the comfort and focus that cinemas naturally provide, turning screens into intimate venues for in-depth conversations about books with a variety of speakers.

Lotte Cinema plans to launch Kyobo Book Centre's book-lecture community "VORA" next month, opening with a talk by lecturer Kim Mi-gyeong. Kyobo Book Centre's "Cinematic Class" held its first session on Saturday, sold out every seat and drew attention as a program that maximizes the synergy between book-based content and the theater setting.

A lecture series by docent Lee Seo-jun titled "France Like a Feast" began Tuesday and continues through the coming weeks, with additional programs bringing world-renowned literary works to the big screen planned for September.

A Lotte Cinema official said the collaboration with Kyobo Book Centre would offer customers a distinctive experience by combining text-based knowledge content with the theater's highly immersive environment. "We will continue to expand cultural projects that maximize the value of the theater space," the official said.