[Discussion] It's The End Of The Cinema As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) or Not

[Dynaman]

I'm not a big movie guy - much rather watch most of them at home.  It is still up in the air what will happen, the movie theater, video rental(*), purchase revenue model is not one movie makers are going to give up willingly.  The only thing to be seen is if the pandemic has changed viewing habits for enough people to decide that going to the theater is optional.

 

(*) - Physical or electronic.

[Seto Kaiba]

5 hours ago, RobinSm89 said:

I would also like to add from myself, I think that there will still be people who prefer to go to the cinema than watching movies at home, for many, this is a common tradition

Well, yeah... there are people who'll cling to tradition no matter what just because "that's the way it's always been" even if it no longer serves any purpose.

Like so many other traditions that've lost, or are in the process of losing, their societal relevance the number of people who feel compelled to follow tradition for tradition's sake will steadily decline with the passage of time.

 

Right now, the movie theater industry's saving grace is that the major studios are too hidebound by last century's market model to be confident about declaring their independence from the big movie theater chains.  It's also fortunate for them that, right now, the streaming media market is fragmenting as the major studios and networks are trying (and for the most part, failing) to launch their own proprietary streaming brands so they won't have to share profits with Netflix, Hulu, Google Play, or Amazon Prime.  The main thing theaters will have going for them in the next couple of years is that most consumers won't want to subscribe to a dozen different streaming services, especially when that service only has one or two shows that people actually want to watch like CBS All Access and Star Trek, Disney+ and The Mandalorean, or HBO Max and... ok, drawing a blank here, nothing really stands out on their slate of exclusive programming... a lot of DC stuff, I guess?

Movie theaters are gonna have to seriously rethink their business model or risk being run out of business by the ever-increasing quality and accessibility of home theater.

Back before the pandemic, a number of the theaters out my way were trying to modernize their business model by adding restaurants or bars to their premises that serve alcohol.  It sounded like a good idea on paper, I guess.  For my money it was a bad idea since it just added the smell of cheap beer and cheaper wine and the annoyances caused by inebriated moviegoers to the experience.  That and the restaurants were all upscale pub food-type places, which this area already has a glut of.  It might be more workable in a town that doesn't have a university, and the drinking-to-get-wasted that inevitably comes with them.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Seto Kaiba

[Mog]

It’s another nail in the coffin for retail and commercial spaces too.

Malls were already hurting before the pandemic.

And now most of the businesses that could take over a significant chunk of that space (movie theaters, gyms, restaurants, etc.) are hurting too.

Add in that working virtual is now becoming more feasible, and you have less demand for those spaces or to convert them into office spaces.

I could see movie theaters going the way of vinyl/LP records, becoming a specialty/niche market.  But with THX sound systems and IMAX screens, I doubt they’ll completely go away.

[Dynaman]

34 minutes ago, Mog said:

 

Add in that working virtual is now becoming more feasible, and you have less demand for those spaces or to convert them into office spaces.

 

THAT might be the saving grace of entertainment out of the home.  Spending all day at home working is the best advertisement for getting the heck out of the home to relax (sometimes).  Though in case of my wife and I it is going out to eat (not done that since March now) though for others it will be going out to a movie.

[Bolt]

Ok. S0.. we had a walk in movie experience a few months ago. (I posted it in the general movie thread back then..) me and my son , and my best friend and his son, went to see The Empire Strikes Back. We went in the afternoon,( like 4:20) and we were the only ones in the whole building!(covid strange days)  Aside from the manager and an employee.  Huge Leather reclining seats , food trays. Amazing. We drank beer and ate snacks (the adults!) I'll just say, at least that theater Made some money that day. And we had a grand ole time, watching an epic classic. 
It was so strange, and yet so much fun. I don't ever expect to have that experience again. Having grown up watching movies in the theater all my life, this was exceptional . And so.. movie theaters (even to this day) will always hold a special place in my life. I'm ok with things changing, at least my 8 year old got to see ESB on the big screen!

[sketchley]

I think a good question to ask is:  How many movies do you watch a second (or more) time and remember who you watched it with?  ... maybe even where you watched it?

Chances are most of your answer includes "friends" and "at a movie theatre", and not "by myself" and "at home".  That power of the shared experience is the main reason why movie theatres (or theatrical productions and other live performances) will never truly disappear.

[seti88]

When i was young, movies were to go out with friends, and then there was a point in life when movies were to expensive to go to, and then that passed when they were reasons for dates to go to.

Now cinemas 'were' the only way for me to finish watching a show from start to finish! 

For the life of me, i cant watch a show to completion either streaming or on TV.  I zone out, get bored halfway (and its not that the shows were duds!) and rather watch a documentary or do something else.

Yes i have changed.

 

[Dynaman]

9 hours ago, Bolt said:

Ok. S0.. we had a walk in movie experience a few months ago. (I posted it in the general movie thread back then..) me and my son , and my best friend and his son, went to see The Empire Strikes Back. We went in the afternoon,( like 4:20) and we were the only ones in the whole building!(covid strange days)  Aside from the manager and an employee.  Huge Leather reclining seats , food trays. Amazing. We drank beer and ate snacks (the adults!) I'll just say, at least that theater Made some money that day. And we had a grand ole time, watching an epic classic. 
 

The theater most likely lost money that day.  Even with the inflated rates for food and assuming the manager is an owner paying the employee and the movie license fee more then made up for the revenue you provided.  Not to mention heating or AC, electricity, etc...

 

EDIT - Disney had a great little line in the financials when the parks first reopened.  They said it was "revenue positive" and some thought that meant the parks were making money.  Nobody knows for sure (but the Bobs and the accountants) but it most likely meant Disney was losing less money with the parks being open then it was losing with them being closed.  Which might be the case for a theater that is open but not making a profit too.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Dynaman

[tekering]

Filmmaker and exhibitor Michael Moore expresses his thoughts:

https://anchor.fm/rumble-with-michael-moore/episodes/Ep--144-Cinema-Saves-The-World-encrt8

[kalvasflam]

For all that, I will still take my Top Gun in a movie theater, thanks.

[Lexomatic]

"Are home theater and a cinema interchangeable?" depends very much on personal taste, and it's a "why not both?" situation where the choice is repeated. There are evidently a lot of people who prefer going to a cinema for at least some of their movie experiences, for technical or emotional reasons -- anything from "no arrangement of subwoofers is compatible with my living room" to "I want to get out of the house."

(Personally, I enjoy the experience of a "going out for" a movie -- stages of anticipation, the camaraderie of other moviegoers; and to replicate the technical quality at home would be fiscally illogical, given that I spend only ~$200 per year, as a solo viewer. The equation is tilted differently for consumers who can't tolerate other moviegoers, face family-scale expenditures, or have small bladders.)

The question is: will the choice continue to exist? Will cinemas survive as individual businesses and as a sector? -- they're in mothballs now, but are there any parts of the supply chain that will die permanently because they require a critical mass? Studios will continue to produce movies. Modern digital projectors are (probably?) easier to maintain than film projectors. Popcorn and powered recliners are no danger. Expertise is widely distributed. Even if there are bankruptcies in the exhibitor chains now, if market demand revives, there will be investors interested in recapitalizing them (in the current global low-interest-rate environment, there's a whole lot of money looking for returns -- and that's likely to be true for at least several years).