Overview
In 2023, global streaming revenue surpassed $100 billion, while box office revenue continues to face challenges. Streaming services have shifted the influence of the film industry immensely. Sometimes movies don’t even make the box office anymore and go straight to Netflix, Hulu, Max, etc. This impact has forever shifted the way studios format and film their movies. Some studios tend to cut corners and costs to highlight the most profitable part of a movie, whether that is an IP or a popular cast.
Film History
Ever since the first motion picture in 1895, films have had a home in theaters across the world for all to see. From the golden era of films to modern superhero movies, the industry has seen many changes in its lifespan, but never a big enough change to keep people from watching in theaters. With more and more families buying home movies or waiting for movies to move to streaming services, it has affected how movie studios market and film their movies. By June 2020, the percentage of adults who strongly preferred seeing a movie in a theater fell to 14%, with 36% choosing to stream movies instead. Maybe the causation of this shift could have been ignited by the COVID pandemic, which caused theaters to close down. This strongly affected the industry’s ability to just print money with big-name movies, almost reverting back to tactics that make people want to get up and go to the theaters.
Convenience
We can also observe that the convenience of watching a blockbuster movie straight from your home is extremely appealing to many households. Another cause we can look at is the rising cost of movie tickets because of the inflation crisis. Lots of families these days don’t want to spend almost 20 dollars per ticket for a movie they can watch for significantly cheaper when it comes out on streaming. Some may even argue that streaming services are a new version of cable, even though it was initially advertised as a better alternative with no ads. Obviously now streaming services all have ads unless you pay for the top premium plan. Will people end up being fed up with big entertainment corporations and their ploy to keep shoving ads down our throats? This is why we need to keep supporting theater releases, even if it’s a kids’ movie. Go see and support a good movie so we can keep getting good quality movies in theaters for years to come instead of going straight to streaming services. We must save theaters and rule streaming services as a measly second place in our entertainment minds.
Trends
There have been trends from companies like Max when they simultaneously release in theaters and on the streaming service to boost total revenue. Basically, guarantees that anyone can see the movie as long as they pay for it. It’s also good for people with disabilities who may find it difficult to join the theater goers. Another positive we can observe is that a streaming service like Netflix is contributing a lot of its budget to original films that will go straight to Netflix. This creates many great original high-production films with easy access to them on the most common service to the public.
Theaters Need You
I encourage you and your friends to be outspoken about this topic and stand strong with theaters if you prefer them more. Reflecting on how much you have used and embraced streaming services, and how watching on your small family room TV is a different experience from watching on the silver screen. Do you want to live in a world where all the new hyped up movies can only be seen on your couch? No, theater involvement is essential to the overall experience of the movie. Like when the Minecraft movie came out, thousands of people across the world screamed and shouted whenever ‘Chicken Jockey’ was said. As well as superhero movies with the high prestige cameos that deserve great audience reactions and roars. So go out there, buy a ticket to the movies for a movie you would rather wait to see on streaming services, and give it a try in the traditional old-fashioned theater venue. Trust me, you won’t regret it.