Has streaming killed movie theaters?

[LeoGrun]

So far as culture wars go, well, it was long enough coming. This was on the horizon back in 2015, probably earlier. Hollywood will never be diverse because what we consider diverse keeps changing, can't really be predicted and the industry is based on nepotism to start with. Movies are already divided, they are marketed to a demographic and often that demographic falls along those lines. A Hollywood movie begins by saying something like "let's sell something to middle-aged white women" and if anything else pays for it that's just a bonus. Movies are made now first as a  marketable commodity. 

There's no real reason to ban movies because Hollywood won't put out a big, popular movie that really goes hard against the government, anyway. Books need to be banned because there's too many independent publishers to control them in the same way. Books are almost always about something that isn't just the narrative story which makes them much more dangerous about a superhero movie with the depth of a saucer of milk. There's nothing wrong with liking those movies, but they're not deep. There's nothing wrong with liking ice cream, it's just not healthy.

I wouldn't call any society "normal" but you do make a good point that the movies create a shared social experience-- something that societies are built on-- that streaming does not. However, no one is interested in friends anymore. They're all "introverts" and media and companies are their "friends." The rest of us are alone. (Sorry, what episode of black mirror is this?)

[Knight Plug]

No. I'd say that while the streaming market is rising, the sales of tickets at the box office should indicate to movie buffs, that most people still prefer the theaters. 

*Munch, munch.

[Ravenfreak]

For a while it looked like Covid was going to shut down the movie theater business, but ever since the restrictions have been lifted more and more people have returned to the cinema. I don't think streaming killed movie theaters, it certainly has killed cable and satellite though. There's still people that probably use cable and satellite, but they're certainly fewer in numbers. I still see plenty of people going to the movie theater on weekends when big box office movies are released.

[Kyng]

On 7/19/2023 at 1:01 AM, LeoGrun said:

And they made that event suck.

I don't think streaming is to blame for theaters doing poorly. Theaters took the bank manager's approach to doing poorly and raised prices. In many cases the properties had not been kept up, sometimes in years. They became complacent and then acted too slowly when streaming first hit. They took out seats and benches long before COVID, they shrank their arcades long before COVID. They were charging more for fewer lower quality concession items long before COVID. Basically, they were taking everything away that allowed you to have a sort of night at the movies because loitering teenagers had bad press. Of course, that takes away the things the adults wanted too. They also started opening fewer theaters and showing only the big blockbusters.

You would go to the movies, watch your two hour movie then immediately leave the theater. $18+ per ticket for that? Why, when the whole group can rent it for $4 on YouTube-- assuming you don't already have it at no additional on Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, Tubi, AmazonPrime Video, Squelch, TeeBeep or Smok (can you guess without googling which I made up?).

The only theaters I know that are still doing well are small live venues that show movies to supplement the live productions. They usually show classics or cult movies and pull out the stops to make it feel like an event. 

tl;dr they made it an expensive, filthy time lacking in choices and treated patrons with a watch your movie then leave attitude then acted surprised when people would rather order a pizza and watch something at home in barbeque-sauce-stained sweatpants.

While that's true of some cinemas, it doesn't apply to all. 

For example, there's this little independent cinema where my girlfriend lives, that charges only £5 per ticket. And the food/drink is pretty cheap too: for example, I got a 300g box of shortbread for only £1! 

Of course, the seats weren't exactly luxurious (they were just wooden benches) - but still, it was a much more intimate experience than your typical multiplex!

[Shortie]

I used to think that streaming of movies and such being possible had slightly killed off movie theatres but it seems, die hard movie lovers and cinema goers still tend to buy tickets and go to watch new movies at the cinema rather than waiting for them to hit the streaming platforms. 

I personally wait for them release for streaming as it can be quite expensive to keep going to the cinema but having die hard cinema goers is definitely keeping them alive. 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I have a CinemaMark membership. We go to the theatre at least once a month. So I would say No, streaming is not killing the cinema.

During Covid, you could rent an entire theatre for just you and your friends. That was pretty cool.

[killamch89]

On 8/27/2023 at 6:50 PM, Ravenfreak said:

For a while it looked like Covid was going to shut down the movie theater business, but ever since the restrictions have been lifted more and more people have returned to the cinema. I don't think streaming killed movie theaters, it certainly has killed cable and satellite though. There's still people that probably use cable and satellite, but they're certainly fewer in numbers. I still see plenty of people going to the movie theater on weekends when big box office movies are released.

Same - I thought that cinemas was going to be a thing of the past with Covid around but they've recovered quite well considering how crap most of the movies coming out have been.

[Dismal_Bliss]

Would you believe I am taking my wife and daughter and we are going to see Labyrinth (1986, David Bowie) in the Cinemark theatre this evening?

I have it on Blue-Ray and streaming, but there is something about the big screen 😄