In 2019, people bought about 1.2 billion movie tickets. By the time 2023 is done, a little over 800 million tickets will have been sold. That's an improvement over the COVID years. But it's still about a third less — and that's with the gloriously bizarro phenomenon that was Barbenheimer.
Although people like to wait for movies to hit streaming, there are still avid cinephiles who will choose a movie theater over their home television. “I prefer the movie theater over streaming because the sound and image quality is much better on the big screen than in my house,” Freedman said.
With the exception of China, cinema attendance has been gradually returning to near historic levels. However, the percentage of frequent movie-goers varies greatly across the markets surveyed in S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan's Asia, Europe and US Consumer Insights surveys.
After a long period of low theater attendance, in 2023 the cinemas saw the return of grand audiences, with films such as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Undoubtedly, these releases exemplified that theaters can be one of the most unifying places in the world where many can find themselves alongside people they may have ...
“Despite this causing some upheaval for the industry, it also means that the demand for content is only increasing – nearly half of consumers say they stream movies weekly, more than 7x as frequently as those who do so in theaters.”
Movies have always been interwoven with media since the 20th century, but the way audiences watched them has changed. Viewers don't have to go to movie theaters anymore now that movies and TV shows are on streaming services or can be illegally pirated at home.
Cinema is already seeing the adoption of laser projection, the rise of HDR to the Cinema Screen – which Barco showcased at its premiere during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, alongside a massive rise in Virtual Production.
A decline in interest in movies and moviegoing cannot only be attributed to this reliance on franchise films and remakes. COVID-19's impacts have been long-lasting, as regular moviegoers were forced to turn to the very streaming platforms that are being blamed for this decline we are now facing.
“Ticket sales are down 21% from four years ago, but that's not the only thing that's down. So, too, is the number of wide releases,” Sarah Whitten wrote in an article for CNBC. “From January to June 30 in 2019, 57 films were released in 2,000 theaters or more.
It's been a rocky road for cinema in recent years. From the booming popularity of SVoD services like Netflix and Amazon Prime creating cut-throat competition, to the Covid-19 lockdowns forcing theatres to close for vast stretches, to the cost-of-living crisis that's driving consumers to tighten their belts.
Although everyone watches movies to escape, escapism is heightened when watching in a theatre. You're forced to watch without breaks or distractions from people and phones. You can fully engage and concentrate – acts often difficult to perfect at home.
Netflix isn't really designed to put movie theaters out of business, however it could happen, in the same way brick and mortar stores that don't adapt to online competition have gone out out of business, though the theater is more for entertainment and getting out of the house.
Watching movies and TV works in a similar way, offering a safe space to feel and express emotions without experiencing real-world implications. Film brings together images, story, metaphor and music – all of which are shown to have therapeutic benefits.
Seeing a movie in the theater transports the audience to the world projected on the big screen. However, the eruption of streaming platforms have taken over homes and are a threat for the theaters to be wiped out. There are a lot of factors streaming services provide that endanger the once beloved movie theaters.
Global box office revenue is predicted to hit $32 billion in 2024, according to film analytics firm Gower Street, which is nowhere near the $40-billion-plus heights of the pre-COVID-19 era.
As previously said, watching movies can have a positive emotional impact. Movies can calm us down and soothe us. We reduce the stress within us by lowering worry, and even watching a movie may turn all negative thoughts into the better, as long as it is enjoyable. Have you ever read a movie quote over and over again?
According to a survey of Americans Gen Z's movie-going habits led in 2022, only three percent of those surveyed said they visit a movie theater one a week or more often.
The widespread closure of theaters due to lockdowns inevitably led to a sharp decline in box office revenue in 2020 and early 2021. But now theaters are back in full swing, and movie houses are still blundering to reach the attention of Generation Z.
Professional nonprofit theaters across the country are still struggling to attract patrons who stopped attending live shows during the COVID-19 pandemic, and shifts in audience behavior combined with depleted federal support will likely conspire to create an even more uncertain future for performing arts organizations, ...
The pandemic and the rise of the small screen have created a financial challenge for the entire movie theater industry. Although ticket sales were up in 2023 over 2022 (825M versus 813M), they are still falling short of the 1.2B sold in 2019, according to Statista.
Struggling cinema chain Cineworld has said its screens will remain open despite its plans to file for administration to cut its huge debts. Cineworld, which is the world's second-largest cinema chain, was hit hard by the Covid pandemic when many of its theatres were forced to close.
The total number of movies released in North America before the pandemic peaked in 2018 at 873, dropping almost three times in 2020 to 334. Although the number of movies produced is rising each year, the industry still trails far from pre-pandemic production levels.
For film fans, "Will movie theaters survive?" has been an ongoing concern. And yet, whether out of movie-loving optimism, showbiz-savvy pragmatism, or both, nearly all of EW's interviewees believe that we'll still be heading to theaters in 2032. "Movie theaters aren't going anywhere!," insists director/writer M.
As movie theaters specialize in either blockbusters or niche indie experiences, the likelihood is the future of cinema will see a lot more movies being released via digital, direct-to-consumer distribution. For both studios and streaming services, the most important challenge is figuring out how to sustain a profit.
With promising developments in areas like script analysis, script development, and storyboarding, the creative process is becoming more advanced and efficient. As AI continues to evolve, it's likely that its influence will become an integral part of filmmaking processes.
