“Barbenheimer” may have given movie theaters a shot in the arm over the past month, but did it simply forestall the inevitable, as people continue to embrace streaming at the expense of going to the cinema?

One thing’s for sure—theaters won’t go down without a fight. It is, after all, an existential struggle. But rather than frame it so gloomily, Regal Cinemas brings a refreshing comedic touch to the issue in new ads from agency Quality Meats that lean into FOMO (fear of missing out) to get people off the couch and back to the theater.

A trio of spots directed by Andy Richter, Conan O’Brien’s erstwhile late-night sidekick, feature characters from genre movies showing up unannounced at people’s homes and accosting them about not coming to the theater—and warning them that they’re missing out on a pretty central shared human experience.

The first spot, “Pool,” sets things up nicely, as a weathered zombie materializes poolside and rips into a dude for waiting to stream her horror film at home. Then, she adds insult to injury, thanks to some pretty gnarly digestive issues.

Richter told Ad Age he liked the Quality Meats scripts from the start.

“Some things changed along the way. The concept of FOMO was a later addition,” he said. “But I loved them. I thought they were really funny and had the potential to be weird enough to stick in people’s memory and actually do what they’re intended to do.” 

A second spot features an “Avatar”-esque alien who berates a mom for missing the movie that her “girl child” and her friends recently saw.

Richter cast the spots in Chicago and shot them, pre-Hollywood strike, in a single day in Naperville, Illinois. “There’s so many funny people in Chicago. It’s such a comedy town, where lots of people, like me, got our start,” he said of the casting process.

The crew included talent from FX’s “The Bear,” which also shoots in Chicago, such as cinematographer Andrew Wehde.

Much of the humor derives from the contrast between the supernatural and the mundane. “We wanted it to be kind of a naturalistic thing, with these horror and action and science-fiction characters having personal, casual conversations,” Richter said. “We thought it was funny having somebody playing a monster, but saying how their feelings are hurt because they’re being ignored.” 

The third spot unfolds at a barbecue, where an injured action-movie hero has his own gripes to share with the host.

The spots will air on connected TV platforms and on social media. Regal hopes they actually change behavior that’s been moving in the wrong direction, from Regal’s point of view, these past few years.

“Movie theatres are gathering places where viewers collectively experience important events in pop culture. You’re fully immersed in a story projected on a big screen the way it was intended,” said Rodney Griffin, creative director at Regal. “If you wait to watch at home, you’re missing out on being a part of that moment.”

He added: “We wanted these to be funny enough to jar people into going to the movies, much like how the characters jar the people in the spots into agreeing to go. Working with Andy Richter and Quality Meats was a blast, and the results from our collaboration get to the heart of the matter.”

Richter, who’s repped by production company Story—an executive producer there, Cliff Grant, is an old friend—has directed ads before, including spots for the Illinois Lottery and Missouri Lottery. But with TBS’s “Conan” going off the air in 2021, he’s found time for other creative pursuits—and would like to continue directing spots, which he likens to work he’s done in the past.

“I’ve been putting short pieces of comedy on television for 30 years. It’s what I do,” he said. “I understand commerce is the basis of this, but I mean, commerce is the basis of all television comedy, when it comes down to it. There’s also a set amount of time and a kind of beat-the-clock, game-show aspect to it that I find fun and invigorating.” 

He’d also like to try his hand at content beyond comedy.

“I’d love to do a bit of everything,” he said. “I want to be able to say, oh, I did a car chase. I did a beauty shot. I pulled at heartstrings. I’d like to try it all. But I realize there are people that specialize in heartstrings. They’ll probably get the heartstring specializers for those jobs.”