The State of Movie Theaters
Despite this, I still doubt movie-going will die completely. Theaters get the occasional fans flocking for the next superhero flick. With streaming services rising, and movie cinema tickets declining, people have begun to wonder, are movie theaters dying?
Streaming Service Impact and Industry Trends
Netflix started out a decade later in 2007. It introduced its own streaming service that found similar problems with poor quality but gained consumer traction through its better selection of movies and TV shows.
Overall, however, these statistics and the realization that movie theaters are now locked into providing content for children and families paints a rather depressing picture of the overall state of the movie industry. Theaters remained closed in crucial markets like New York and Los Angeles. But how have their growing subscribers influenced the film industry?
In the post Harvey Weinstein American movie industry, one of the most noteworthy distribution companies, which has a cult-like following, is A24. Comparing pre and post-pandemic numbers and trends: 2019 was a healthy year for theaters.
While the common assumption is that movie theaters are steadily declining, the numbers themselves suggest a steady comeback to pre-pandemic turnout and revenue. Why anxiously wait in line for a movie ticket when you can pay ahead online? In fact, why even see the movie if you can just find it online — legally or not so legally — and watch it at home?
This is, however, a natural consequence when theaters are closed for 1.5 years during a global pandemic even as other industries are allowed to open much sooner and distributors spend the next 1.5 years withholding big theatrical releases.
Despite this, I still doubt movie-going will die completely.
Seats will be filled for franchise films or the occasional horror movie which has audiences jumping on the edges of their seats. I could see movie theaters becoming a place for only franchise projects, with the occasional Oscar-batty flick.
“The pandemic effected movie theaters. “I don’t think movie theaters are dying,” Darrin Paul, Manager of the Norfolk 7 Theater said.
Looking Ahead
In conclusion, while the movie theater industry has faced challenges in recent years, it is far from dying. The tradition of going to the movies is deeply ingrained in American culture, and there will always be a place for the movie theater experience.
The movie industry now battling strongly to ensure that its superhero flicks get the lowest possible parental guidance ratings so that movie theaters can be filled up by families. For this essential activity, Netflix is simply not an option.
Are movie theaters struggling? While many theaters have since reopened, attendance remains lower than pre-pandemic levels. People still love watching movies, but even when they actually go to a theater, the multitude of discount movie-viewing options like Moviepass have created a cutthroat market traditional movie theaters might not survive.
Along with nightclubs, movie theaters are one of many businesses with no clear path for recovery. The exclusive premiere of “Mulan” on Disney+ started this, and now Warner Bros. has announced all of its 2021 films will release on HBO Max and in movie theaters on the same day.
After a rough two years in which the COVID pandemic and the rise of streaming services contributed to a record decline in audiences going to movie theaters, Hollywood is seemingly coming back. So there’s also that discussion of whether or not people are going to be sitting at the movie theaters for two hours with their masks on or showing proof of vaccination status.
As buzz builds into the premieres of Barbie and Oppenheimer, some on Wall Street are doubting whether the films will be enough to power further gains in movie-theater stocks as a strike by Hollywood writers and actors clouds the outlook for the industry. Absent a resolution, the strike will remain an overhang to movie theater shares and limit upside regardless of whether the box office outperforms near term.