The day moviegoing died?
Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 8:09PM by Nathaniel R
What is that old line. 'Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice?' Who would've expected that our particular world (i.e. moviegoing) would end due to an exceptionally incompetent cruel government's mishandling of a worldwide pandemic? There's no poetic ring to that!
Movie theaters have been closed here in NYC since late March. Moviegoing as we knew it might have died months ago while we were busy stupidly thinking of it as an induced coma that we would all purposefully awake from once treatment options improved. We were not expecting the movie studios themselves be the ones urging us to pull the plug and plan a funeral. As you probably heard today, Warner Bros, one of the last standing behemoth movie studios, has announced that they'll be premiering the entirety of their 2021 slate day and date on HBOMax and in movie theaters...
It was one thing to write off Wonder Woman 1984, an easy billion dollar grosser in a normal world - on the grounds that somethings gotta give with the pipeline of movie production and revenue and such when things have been closed-down for several months. But to write-off over another year's worth of event pictures and the theatrical model itself (which will now be endangered; you can't put genies back in bottles) feels like cultural and even economic suicide.
WARNER BROS BIGGEST 2020/2021 TITLES - the ones that looked like (potential) blockbusters. How many new HBOMax subscribers do they need to offset the, oh, 3-5 billion they just lost with this move?
- Wonder Woman 1984 (last title in this franchise earned $821 million globally)
- The Matrix 4 (last title in this franchise earned $427 million globally)
- Dune
- Godzilla vs. Kong (last title in this franchise earned $566 million globally)
- The Suicide Squad (last title in this franchise earned $746 million globally)
- Space Jam: A New Legacy (last title in this franchise earned $230 million globally)
- Tom & Jerry
- Mortal Kombat
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (last title in this franchise earned $320 million globally)
- In the Heights
- King Richard
Massive event pictures like Dune will be available at home (if you have HBOMax) they day they arrive in theaters. If theaters still exist but this news will surely not convince any theater chains to stay open long enough to find out if survival is possible Who will go see a movie for $15-20 a person in theaters when they can just share their HBO password and gather as many people as they can fit around their TV with a ticket price of $0.00 for everyone? Why would a movie studio that regularly produced the kinds of event movies that earn 100s of millions to a billion in the theatrical model, abandon that proven money-making model so entirely when their newer models like VOD / streaming subscriptions, haven't proved as lucrative? So Warner Bros is essentially going from two unequal revenue sources -- one formerly mighty that's currently in the hospital and one less lucrative that's functioning better than usual with people trapped at home all year -- and purposefully reduce it to only the latter? All when we keep hearing that vaccines will be rolling out next year.
Do the movie studios or the execs at Warner Bros know something we don't about the psychological makeup of civilians (possible) or the ins and outs of the promised vaccines (unlikely)
At any rate Warner Bros' decision feels less strategic than self-sabotaging. In fact, it feels like Netflix's wet dream, to only have streaming competition in a field they basically invented and can play Goliath in while fighting over dozens of miniature Davids who are also fighting each other. It's a win-win for Netflix. Netflix will soon no longer have to wage the more complex two-pronged fight against other streamers AND the theatrical model and just concentrate on stepping on their comparatively puny streaming opponents.
Does Warner Bros not have a lot of faith in the footage from their 2021 franchises, many of them long in the tooth, or are they just placing a big bet on the future (streaming only) and will attempt to figure out how to monetize later?
This probably shouldn't leave us so pessimistic or shocked but it did bring on a highly specific crushed kind of mood. We're feeling so bruised and battered. After months of being holed up in our apartment, the last thing we wanted was a notice that our future would be.... well, more of this. Sitting at home consuming 'content' can be fun but we long for film experiences outside of the couch and away from the laptop.
The movies were invented well over 100 years ago. Moviegoing was different in 1920 with regards to many specifics but at its core the experience is still the same. You left your house. You sat in a dark place with other strangers and had an entertainment experience in a communal setting. That experience has miraculously survived many massive cultural and economic shifts including the birth of television, the internet, the death of studio system, the rise of laserdisc, than vhs, than dvd then blu-rays, cable, videogames, internet, prestige tv, and piracy. To survive all that and then just throw in the towel (which is what Warner Bros announcement feels like) due to a (mostly) finite triple threat of streaming wars, a pandemic, and the incompetencies of the GOP's leadership-free reign? That feels grim.
We've already seen how unspecial movies became during the pandemic. They've been plentiful but they've mostly been perceived and received as mere "content" rather than movies. People watch them than discard them and no conversations about them last longer than, say, a week. It's like an album of all filler without a hit single. Streaming is so beautiful as part of the entertainment landscape -- we're not knocking its convenient pleasures. But an entirely streaming future is depressing as hell. We've all been shut-ins for month. After the pandemic is over, Hollywood, or at least Warner Bros, is betting that we'll never leave our houses again.
They might be right (for reasons that are best left to psychologists to unpack) but it's confusing to us. Unless you have a truly spectacular home or apartment, why would you want to lock yourself in for all your entertainment? But what will be left standing outside the home if all the communal spaces shut down or become too cost prohibitive to attend?
We're in a dark place around this news. Are you feeling as hopeless or do you see a light at the end of this COVID-19 'movies are now just tv pilots that weren't picked up' tunnel.
Reader Comments (57)
This was incredibly strange news to read about. This won't stop me from going to the movies (which sounds like an expression that will soon become obsolete) but I know most people don't romanticize movie-going the way I do. But I do agree with you Nathaniel, that it will be difficult to come back to 'normal' after a move like this; I'm expecting the other studios to follow suit in the coming weeks.
Yeah, this is the death of cinema. Other studios will follow suit, but the financial model simply won’t be there to pay for most of these event movies, and it’ll be impossible to be able to compete with TV-no single movie this year has equaled the zeitgeist cache of even a Parasite, much less an Avengers Endgame. The Oscars will lose their pop culture relevance, and without them the independent film scene will crumble. Ten years from now movies will have entirely been replaced by TV and video games, becoming mere novelties like opera & radio.
John T -- As far as I can tell, live theatre still exists after more than a century of other mediums shoring away at its perceived relevance and popularity. I don't mean to be combative but to say "Ten years from now movies will have entirely been replaced by TV and video games, becoming mere novelties like opera & radio." feels preposterously hyperbolic. Sorry if my words offend. I don't mean to minimize your pain, which is very genuine and valid. I just think things aren't as dire as the death of cinema.
Once the dreaded "pre-show" entertainment (read advertisements and commercials) became popular in even arthouse theatres eliminating that wonderful feeling of the calming hush when you entered that allowed you to switch from the busyness of the outside world and prepare for the movie going experience I've found myself going to the cinema less and less.
But for certain movies I'd still want that vast feeling so I put up with the unending noise and I can't see that changing. When all this crap is over the lure of all those big dollars will bring about a resurgence of moviegoing of a sort but the model will probably have to be retooled since crowds wouldn't seek out the smaller films as they did before unfortunately.
This tweet gives closure to our 1987 retrospective and the death of the movie theatre experience.
https://twitter.com/edgarwright/status/1333173846187380736
Feeling more than a little concerned. Theaters should be scared of this. The movie going experience is certainly going to change. As someone living near Hollywood, I'm glad I was here for part of it.
In another post I commented that this was the future. We can expect less event movies and blockbusters (no return on investment) and more tv like movies. RIP cinema.
I'm still seeing this as the best possible scenario from a sea of bad options. I have faith in a return to something like the old model, since those are very big dollars. There might be fewer actual cinemas open, but none of that is forever either and, as we all come out of this at the other end, we'll see positive readjustments. Two things I keep in mind: the industry has seen this kind of TV threat before and its best filmmakers have adjusted, adapted, innovated with new stories or budget stretches or other ways of sustaining the big screen. Their passion is a beacon and, as viewers, we shouldn't underestimate how we contribute to that light (I passed on seeing The Irishman on the big screen, but was there immediately for Roma and am lamenting that I can't do that for Mank). Second, it's a good idea to keep an eye on other entertainment industries and watch adjustments there. The book biz has been in perpetual danger since God was a baby, and while the pandemic has played havoc with publishing schedules and publicity in general, it's been finding ways to rally around individual bookstores and communities, regional trade shows, and traditional readings and discussions. When practioners love their art, they find a way. That's why I have faith that cinema will come back. As will live theater. As will live music. Stay hopeful. :)
I never considered myself an optimist but I guess I am one when it comes to cinema.
John T. -- You say "Ten years from now movies will have entirely been replaced by TV and video games, becoming mere novelties like opera & radio.", but hasn't live theatre face much more cruel adversities than cinema, yet it still exists? Theatre has survived the advent of cinema, TV, radio, and a plethora of other adversaries. Cinema will survive streaming.
I empathize with your fear, but to declare the death of cinema today feels awfully premature. There's still hope and change isn't always bad. It's painful and obviously imperfect, though. I get your frustration.
However, it's not like the experience of going to the movies is the same as it was in the 1920s. Reading these comments, I feel like I'm seeing what cinephiles in the late 20s thought with the advent of sound or the movie lovers of the postwar when faced with the threat of TV.
Anyway, sorry if my words sound invalidating of your pain and fear. That's not my intention. I just feel like I'm drowning in other cinephiles' despondence while I'm trying to hold on to hope. Maybe I'm the foolish one here.
zig -- I agree with everything you so said. Stay hopeful :)
Leave it to Trump to be the catalyst to kill the movie theaters from his covid inaction
It's like sex or the gym. once you stop doing it... you forget.
Stop blaming Trump for everything that is wrong with this country. It's so lazy.
Cinema will be back. There are billions of $$$ to be made when the world returns to normal. The night is always darkest before the dawn! Don't give up hope <3
Precisely. This moment of challenge will be great for television and streaming (and eventually for live performance, for that matter), but it won't kill moviegoing (or "cinema").
RIP cinemas. It was nice knowing you
@Bartlett:
Oh really? He's the one that deliberately mishandled the COVID response. His lies and misinformation to this day is costing the US lives and avoidable deaths.
That's why the USA has the most number of COVID cases and deaths in the world.
That's why the deniers are still holding parties and other superspreader events.
That's why the fanatics are still refusing to wear masks and follow safety measures.
That's why the public spaces like cinemas are not safe because the virus is not contained.
That's why the resumption to normal life is far from reality, because of the damage he did.
All because of Trump's misinformation and mishandling of the COVID response. And the lack of it! So yes, Trump is also to blame in the necessity to shut down cinemas. And for the reasoning behind this deal.
I began really getting into film around the year 2000 and every singular year since I've seen articles about how this year marks the end of of cinema: be it the rise of DVDs, or Netflix, or decline in Oscars viewership, or the switch from film projection to digital, or the commercialization of Sundance, or the affordability of 50+ inch HD flat screen TVs, or how the video games industry make more money than Hollywood, or whatever else. This year will be a bigger blow to the industry than any I've been alive to see and will have long lasting ramifications but I have every confidence that with widespread vaccination and a functional adult in the White House things will start to return to normal for a great many aspects of life (including moviegoing) and I expect to see articles decrying that cinema died this year for many years to come.
I don't know what to feel. I have a little bit more hope than you, Nathaniel, but I can't tell if that hope stems from ignorance. But I recall reading an independent filmmaker some time ago realize that the festival debut for his film would likely be the only theatrical screening his film got. And the opera (live theatre in general) comparison seems bang on. Yes, live theatre exists (as does opera), but not in the way it did. It doesn't stand in the public landscape the way it did before.
But then I think, I own Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Blu-Ray. And I still went to see it in theatres during the recent re-release. As did about 100 other people (in that theatre, I mean). I went to see Roma and The Irishman in theatres and the theatre was full each time.
But I could be wrong. And maybe that's okay? I love television whole-heartedly. I'd argue the best english language screenwriting is being done on the small screen. For all the talk about the communal experience of cinema, I actually avoid the big blockbusters that anchor them anyway.
I don't like this idea at all. I wanna see some of these movies in the theaters. I know it's going to take a while for all of us to go back to the movie theaters but this is a bad idea.
I feel for the US and really hope that the Biden admin and the promise of a vaccine can help pull your nation out of this catastrophic pandemic. In Australian we fought the pandemic with a strict lockdown and now we are down to zero community transmission. Our only cases are in hotel quarantine as Australians return from overseas. We had strong leadership and a population who trusts the scientific community. We also have a “wide open land” and the”tyranny of distance” as well as the fact that we are an island nation to thank for our position. Still, thanks to the way the USA has handled the pandemic, Australian cinema’s too will struggle. We may have a small population but we do love to go to the movies and we love the Hollywood blockbusters and family films - especially over Christmas which is the start of our Summer holiday period. It’s something we do with our families. Go to the movies and then out to dinner or lunch. Take the kids and their friends. Date Nights and Girls Nights Out in Gold Class may be the only way to save the local cinema. Smaller boutique cinemas are already starting to spring up. Of course then it becomes an even more elite experience, too expensive for families and, well there’s nothing to see. My family are privileged to be able to subscribe to streaming services but we still love the cinema experience. I hope this is not the end for cinemas.
The minute I get vaccinated -- well, I might sleep for a couple days straight as the huge amount of stress and fear melts away -- but after THAT? I'm going to my favorite restaurants. I'm going to the beach. And I'm going to see some MOVIES.
I still feel like this is an extension of hedging more than a death knell. There will be an audience for moviegoing after this. However, I'm 42, and I wouldn't be surprised if people under 20 stayed home so much more than my generation (including introverts like me) ever did. Honestly, the way this shithole country and much of the world has fallen apart since 9/11, I can't blame them.
The cinema will still exist -- but so does opera. We might be approaching that state. One thing is for certain, the Oscar will soon officially lose its position as the preeminent entertainment award to the Emmy. In fact, that may have already happened and we're just in delusion.
ETA: I'm only 41! My 42nd birthday isn't for six months! I can't even keep my age straight, that's how jarring this annus horribilis has been.
Something in movie distribution and I think also in Festivals has changed, maybe forever. But this does not mean that movie theaters will die, it would have happen already with TV years ago.
If there's something that must really change is us. It's the right time to become optimistic.
I’m a little confused by their decision. If this is only domestic, then it’s easy to see how these films will still make money overseas.
I also can’t imagine this will be anything more than temporary. My bet is that they do thistle a year to drive up interest in HBO Max. But, it’s really risky.
Some of the comments in this thread seem like massive overreactions. I'm certainly not pronouncing cinema dead yet. Some thoughts I had in response to the general notion of a purely streaming future:
--The general trend in the industry is toward home viewing, sure, but I think there will be a rebound after COVID where people are even more eager for out-of-home experiences... like going to the movies.
--Do streaming sites even make money? My (admittedly layman) understanding is that they rely heavily on angel investors. Let's see them try to make a sustainable model for producing blockbusters that they don't get sufficient ROI for. If they can't, there will be a gap that someone in the industry will fill.
--We are nearing a world where the average person would need a half-dozen or more streaming sites to watch everything they'd like to see... That cannot last. Something will shake up the market.
--There are WAY too many people who love cinema for it to ever die. Here in New York, I can imagine the IFC Center outliving us all with its random Sundance indies in 40-seat theaters.
Juan Carlos - In Spain they're are in the same situation and their president is socialist and hot.
The UK vaccinations start on Tuesday.
Some cinemas here are reopening too.
I don't go to the cinema to see event movies and wouldn't watch half the films listed bar the horror projects which are often better sat in your own quiet home with zero noise.
I hope cinema does eventually return as for some it's their life and livelihoods.
Thank you very much for your blog post Nat, and for everyone else for their responses. Some really detailed and heartfelt pleas for the future of cinema (s).
I think I err on the positive side, partly because not every studio has a convenient deal with an online platform, but also because a lot of cinema goers, both dedicated festival attendees and more casual audiences, visit cinemas for more than the film itself. Whether for the big-screen experience or just a place to hang out with friends.
I expect many individual cinemas will close, especially if they have over-extended debts or were barely making even before this year, but others will continue. I also expect to see a shift in the types of movies being made. What will customer expectations be going forward? Can tentpole releases hope to make a profit streaming? In any case this is an exciting time to be a film fan. The world is changing and we're here to see it.
Thank God for Brexit.
I'm kinda ready for what comes next. I can't bring myself to look at the state of the movie business and go "Well this should stay the way it is." And I want to encourage people who are worried to be hopeful. Filmmakers who want to tell quality stories were booted out of Hollywood years ago and they've been making great stuff on streaming. This year I think I've seen more great movies (including more movies by women and people of color) than in a long time.
Do I wish I could have seen those on a big screen? Yes. Would I have seen them on a big screen if there was no pandemic? Probably not. Shirley and Dick Johnson is Dead aren't going to play in my city for more than a week if at all. And by then the conversation would have moved on long ago. You worry that no one will talk about movies any more. I've had more interesting conversations about movies this year than in ages.
I don't mean to paint a nothing-but-rosie picture. There are plenty of issues that we'll have to deal with. Yes everything now feels like a drop of water in a sea of content. But I've not struggled to find great stuff. That's because your site (and others) continue to be advocates for great movies. We can make this work.
I feel like the post-theatrical apocalypse you paint has been a reality for at least 2-3 years. Maybe not in the big cities (don't worry this isn't some rah rah midwest real America bs. If anything I wish we had it more like NYC) but where I am, things need to change. Including the theatrical experience. I won't get into how long it's been since I've had a good theatrical experience (10+ years), but right now, the whole thing is broken. It doesn't work. Yes, this move might break it further. I recognize that. But it already doesn't work. So let's not keep it the same. Let's see what change can bring.
When I was a closeted gay teenager in the early ‘00s, movie theatres were the one place I could go to not only escape my tiny, little world, but also discover an endless number of new ones. So many of my best memories from that time in my life (and beyond!) involved going to the movie theater — sobbing at the end of You Can Count on Me; laughing hysterically on a mother-son date to see Something’s Gotta Give; seeing The Departed opening weekend with a packed audience a couples years after I moved to Manhattan. To know now that many generations will soon know movies only as streaming entities is depressing.
But at the same time, none of this surprises me. I think what the pandemic has done is simply speed up something that was slowly but inevitably unfolding before our eyes already. I mean, nowadays, movies come out on iTunes about three months after they hit theaters — far longer than the years I had to wait until August 2003 just to own Chicago on DVD — and theaters have been steadily closing for years. (RIP Ziegfeld!) I think it’s naive to think we were heading in any other direction, and as depressing as it is to say, Warner Bros. is probably playing the right game long-term. We all have Netflix accounts; we all have Spotify. We are part of the problem.
Not to mention, going to the movies has become insanely expensive, crowded and stressful. I don’t blame people for wanting to watch something on their own terms and in their own comfort.
Still, it’s a shitty time to be a cinephile, and my heart breaks for all of the independent theaters and arthouses around the country (and the world) — not to mention the independent film industry in general. It’s just going to be that much harder for movies to get made — and seen.
Shared, communal experiences have been dying before COVID. It's heartbreaking but true. I wonder if the death-knell of COVID will somehow bring them back after the vaccine is available. Is it possible that things are so isolated that we'll actually, finally, be motivated to create and restore shared experiences?
You are right Nathaniel. The cinema as we've known it for over 100 years is officially dead, its been announced for decades and it took the triple threat to do it. It will become more like theater and broadway, there will be insanely expansive, tech advanced, auditoriums for special events and occasions that will be mainly located in dense urban areas, where you can travel to share in the experience. And you know what, it might be even more pleasurable when you do. But there is one fallacy in your argument, movie theaters did not survive the 'internet', they might have radio, tv, cable, vhs, dvd, but what is happing now is THE internet, not its infancy as chats, news and email. As business goes content beamoths and silicon valley companies are fighting for the 21st century oil money, our real state attention span time. And it's easier to corner that real state with better gadgets, faster delivery pipes, better, more time consuming new content. When movies started the business man behind it tried to emulate the one business it existed: theater. Big spectacles events. Then the money moved to actual land real state, multiplexes in malls, strips, etcs, where to get people there and consume you needed a lot of rooms and options, and the land and the usage of ir was the value; movies were the attraction. Now the internet has arrived, and land is mostly useless as value, value is in data, timespan and other areas. So it makes sense that money conglomerates will move to that, even if it means an year or two of billion dollar loss. Thats the business, without the magic or fantasy of good old times we project in it. All in all the money will move on, the audience will move on, we film lovers will move on, but one thing will remain: to get time and emotions we will tell great stories with visuals, sound and fury. That won't change, that's human.
Nathaniel, I share your fears but also take heart in the optimism of others. I do think the movie theater model will have to change, but "going to the movies" is going to survive in some fashion.
Ann Hornaday (from the Washington Post) is in the optimism camp, for what it's worth:
Did Warner Bros. just kill movie theaters? Not by a long shot
i definitely appreciated some of the more optimistic comments here but I worry for the industry and actually for movie lovers. Without the theatrical revenue studios wont be able to afford to make the kinds of movies that still convince general audiences to go to the theater. So once they stop trying to make the spectacles the only thing keeping moviegoing alive is... what...? I wish spectacles weren't the only thing that gets people into theaters but it seems to be if you look at the box office charts year after year as we've been doing for 20 years.
but it seems crazy that just the year after a cultural breakthrough like Parasite (largely driven by in theater excitement) that will now be over for small films... and in a few years the big films will be over without the revenue they used to bring in.
so people say arthouses will survive but how when fewer and fewer movies get distribution? unless they all become repertory houses which makes moviegoing even more niche.
that said i am reading all the optimistic comments with great willingness to try to believe ;)
The movie theaters are not dead- just like Broadway they will come back eventually- not matter how big your home theater set up it can never match the film going experience.
"Why would a movie studio that regularly produced the kinds of event movies that earn 100s of millions to a billion in the theatrical model, abandon that proven money-making model so entirely when their newer models like VOD / streaming subscriptions, haven't proved as lucrative?"
It's a cultural shift. It's the same reasons why many businesses are shutting down offices and asking, or at least giving people the option, to work remotely on a permanent basis. The norms have shifted, and it's not just temporary. There is no "going back to normal" because this is the new normal. But it's not just movies. It's work. It's socializing. There have been serious cultural behavioral shifts.
I think Warner Bros. is just treating it as many companies are in general. People aren't going back to their offices anytime soon, with or without a vaccine. Remote working is the future. So, with their logic, with more people still inside, why not give them the option to stay inside and be entertained?
I hate it too, but it makes sense from a cultural/behavioral perspective. People want convenience. This is convenience.
I am so old that I remember when it was standard to just walk into a movie whenever we got there, and then stay and watch the next showing until the part where we came in (often a point of contention, “I don’t remember that...”).
My hope is that an eager niche market will allow repertory theatres to flourish, with mini film festivals and imaginative offerings that make movie going so cool again.
For the big screen, people have re-discovered what fun drive-ins are. The same places that only ever got big releases could still get them on the big drive-in screen, where land isn’t urban space.
If huge budget blockbusters go the way of the dinosaur, I’m okay with that. To me, those huge films are today’s equivalent of “The Greatest Show on Earth” and “Around the World in 80 Days”, movies that you look at now and think “Why?”.
I think it’s great that the available films people have been watching are often smaller budget, “niche”, directed by women, etc. I hope and agree that a cultural change is coming, where we appreciate movies like delicious cuisine, not endlessly and needlessly consume like junk food.
People are itching to go back to their old lives. Covid won't be here forever and once it's gone people are going to run to gyms, restaurants, bars, and movies.
If anything this feels like an attempt to get some money this year. Isn't HBO Max the last streaming service in terms of revenue? Maybe they just threw up their hands said screw It and decided to try to make some buzz and money then start over the next year.
I'm kind of stunned at the reactions over on Twitter to a tweet mourning the end of theaters. Four-to-one the reactions are "no big loss." It's mostly people saying "I'm sick of hearing other people eating popcorn or looking at their phones" anyway. I guess they don't have any memory of the collective trauma (in a good way) we all shared right after the chest bursting scene in ALIEN or the roars of laughter at a full house where TOOTSIE was on the screen. If you think the first shot in 1977's STAR WARS is just as good at home as it was in a big theater, you don't know what the cinema is.
If you want to blame the death of movie theaters blame the Iphone-
Oh my... White people problems...
I'm turning 40 tomorrow and the moment I get vaccinated. The first thing I do is go to the fucking movie theater and see as many fucking movies as I can and write about them. It is like a 2nd home to me as I just miss sitting in a nice comfortable chair, the smell of popcorn around me, the sense of not moving during a movie and not paying attention to a cell phone that is turned off and hoping no one turns on their fucking phone. I miss that more than anything.
@Incarnatia Are you serious or trolling? Everything we talk about here could be dismissed that way. Why are you here and not hosting a group devoted to solving dysentery in the Third World?
The cinema is dead, long live the cinema!
My prediction is this Warners guy is going to get fired in a spectacular way and moviegoing will go back to how it was with a yearly slight decrease in moviegoing. Or possibly this is all brinksmanship anyway.
If I was forced to predict anything, I would have said that the movie studios are trying to squeeze out the movie theater chains so that they can buy them up at a serious discount so they can show their own movies in those movie theaters. In other words, go back to the old studio model now that they are allowed to do it. Control the product AND the distribution.
But if this new model continues and a behemoth like Disney follows, then yes, movie theaters would become niche experiences. I think there would be the IMAXy gargantuan event movies and theaters, and then the local neighborhood theaters that show "small" movies on a small screen for the true cinephile. I'd probably go to both (but more for Dune type movies in the big theaters, no more superheros). I mean movies at theaters now are just showing something digitally on a bigger screen and for money anyway.
There will always be enough of a core audience for the cinema experience to make it viable for one or two chains at least in larger locales at least. Chill my New York babe ;)
I worked in movie theaters during the pandemic, and the general public more than anyone have made me see the appeal in streaming, sorry to say. Maybe it will change when we reopen fully and we're all vaccinated. That said, I happen to work in a mall with a strict mask policy, and let's see, in the past nine months, the following has happened:
- customers purchase food only to throw it away deliberately on the floor as a form of protest
- daily racial, sexual, and homophobic threats
- customers purchase tickets only to protest inside the theater about mask use
- people coughing deliberately in our faces
- serious threats to the property and to staff that required police involvement
I've become a misanthropic bitch basically. Streaming has been the only thing that has preserved my love of movies, because people have been awful, and it's made me realize that it's the art that matters, not the experience of seeing it, because we will find a new way of experiencing it. I'm truly sorry for the people for whom theaters have been an escape, and you are getting lumped in with the horrible people, but the passive majority of people saying "we love movies" means nothing to me when you all sit quietly by as an antimasker spits in my face, hoping I call security soon so that you can get back to it.
Sadly, the cinema experience has been dying long before the Warner Brothers news. I used to see 100 plus movies a year at the theater. But nowadays, you almost need to take a loan to go and "enjoy" the experience. The last few times I've been (pre-COVID), I was one of only three people in the theater. Even with my $20 dollar ticket and $15 dollar popcorn, it didn't make much financial sense.
The home experience is much more enjoyable. If I had even the slightest desire to see "Mulan," I would have shelled out the $30 plus Disney plus subscription over going to the theater. My home entertainment system isn't much and is cheap compared to a lot of others, but I enjoy the experience at home much more.
There are so many factors at play. When one pays over $200 for cable, various streaming services, etc., who has the cash left over to leave the comfort of home and sit in a dark theater alone? The appeal, and I used to LOVE it, has been lost. The last magical experience I had at the movies was when the entire audience at the AMC theater I was watching "Dreamgirls" in stood up and applauded after Jennifer Hudson's AMAZING performance of "I'm Not Going." Since then, the magic is lost.
I will mourn theaters the way I did tape players and VCRs. Technology moves on and fighting it is useless.
Dissenter -- I'm so sorry you went through all that. What you're describing sounds like more of the same in terms of the breakdown of civility and decency in public behavior, which of course T**** also promoted / encouraged. So...
Bartlett -- sorry but it's not lazy to have a brain and eyes and notice how things trace back.
Mike -- sorry you haven't been enjoying it for years. For me, it's still super enjoyable. I have great experiences every single month at movie theaters. I have a pretty big tv but watching movies on it just feels like watching tv at home, nothing special. so perhaps the reason i resist the change is that I *truly* enjoy watching movies much much less at home. Even if friends are over.
Dan -- they are trolling. anyone who dismisses a conversation about the future of moviegoing on a site that's called the film experience is trolling. It's like going to a politics site and mocking people who care about policy or voter supressions, or whatnot, etc. Dont feed the trolls!
Tom G -- that's what i dont get about the decision. I do have some friends who are like 'fuck movie theaters. i'm never leaving home again'' but they're in the minority. Most people i know are eager to get back to public spaces (especially bars/ theaters/gyms). I dont really like get the 'it's better at home' thing... because unless you have a truly massive home (which most people in big cities dont), even the arthouse theaters will have bigger screens. And as for watching things on a laptop. that's the grossest of all. I dont want to stare at a computer /phone / ipad screen all day for work and communication (zoom/emails) and then ALSO stare at a computer screen while at play.
JJ -- despite my pesssimism about the movies, i cna't imagine the Emmys ever becoming the dominant awards show. They just have never been respected in the way the Oscars or even the Tonys have and they have never had as big a viewership as the Grammys or the Oscars or even the Golden Globes. I think partially it's because they have too many categories. Partially it's because they have historically had very lazy voting (with the same nomineeds and winners year after year) although that's partially because the very model of the artform attaches weight to things staying the same for year after year (with long running series) . In short they dont seem to fire up people's imaginations in the same way... even people who love TV more than film. Probably because they are never operating from a blank slate each time the way Grammys and Globes (kind of) and Tonys and Oscars are.... which leads to thousands of 'what if' imaginings each year.
everyone -- really enjoying reading all of your different perspectives. I really hope some positives come out of all the changes we'll see... and some of you have suggested some that sound plausible.
Good. VOD/streaming is the future, and the sooner that's realized, the better. I couldn't care less about "Wonder Woman 1984" or any tentpoles of that nature. Netflix and the streamers are the only games in town for mid-budget adult-oriented, non-Marvel fare, so I'm fine with it. It will be a long time before I feel remotely comfortable enough to step foot in a cinema again. The experience was becoming cost-prohibitive and unruly with rude patrons and nonstop commercials and trailers pre-covid. The pandemic only expedited the inevitable. Home viewing is the way everything's gonna go sooner or later.