Stuff that Never Happened: The Four-Screen Movie Theater

I love seeing old shorts, newsreels, magazine articles and such that tried to predict the future. This image is from about a century ago and shows the concept of a four-screen movie theater. Nowadays you could do this with LED screens and a lot of money, and maybe some people have, but with the technology back then they'd have had to have a huge building built around the theater area itself to allow for space for rear-projection projectors. You'd probably have to add a couple of stories or more above the main room to allow for the ceiling projector. I doubt anyone would have wanted to spend the money to make that happen but it would've been really badass. It would've been an emersive experience. It reminds me of the time many Moons ago when my buddy George from California was living here. One evening we decided to eat (a lot of) shrooms and go see the classic Mel Brooks flick "Silent Movie." We ended up getting way too high to watch a crazy movie that was trippy to begin with, in a packed theater. We should've just left and gone out into the woods and caught the movie another time, but it was fascinating to watch a movie that high, and we couldn't tear ourselves away. We ended up causing a bit of a scene, but luckily most people figured out what was going on and that we were high as fuck and it ended up being hilarious. In the 70s it wasn't uncommon for people to be tripping balls in a movie theater, and most people got a laugh out of it. What was wild is that I couldn't tell where the screen ended and where the rest of the theater began. The whole room was the screen. It was almost like we'd blasted right into the movie. It's hard to describe but it was intense, and a lot like this theoretical theater from 100 years ago. Why spend all that money for four giant screens and four projectors and a NASA-sized building...just give everyone a handful of shrooms when they buy their tickets. Just kidding. Great memory. It sure was a lot like this picture. Seeing as how we made it out without being kicked out of the theater or having the cops called, it was a remarkable experience. I'm glad for it. I'll have to send George this photo.