Quote Originally Posted by matthew View Post
Why would people return to theaters when instant VOD is now a thing? Universal already announced it, others will follow suit. Theaters only advantage up to now was their exclusivity window.
The advantage of theaters is one that VOD will never be able to touch. The sense of participating in an event.

There is still waaaay too much crappy stuff making its debut on video for high quality, big budget movies to risk being associated with that mix. And people will continue to want to stand in line, buy $9 popcorn, and cheer and cry with a crowd any time The Next Big Movie is released. People want to share the experience, and that's not likely to change any time soon.

Granted, I think the theaters are trying to rush people back a bit too early, and many chains will go under, be bought and repurposed. But when the crisis is over, they'll be back, perhaps stronger than ever as people seek to regain what they lost for so long.

I don't know that I support chains that boycott Universal for releasing straight to VOD, but if Universal continues to do that after it's safe, it would be a bigger problem for Universal than theaters.

It will be interesting to see the showdown if the situation is still occurring on the release date of No Time To Die. I suspect by then Universal will have already given in and we won't see that film on VOD until mid-2021