Will COVID-19 end theatrical movies

[Vakanai]

Apparently my personal preferences does matter to you and that other guy, otherwise I wouldn’t be getting all these responses about my preferences.

Like many other people, I’m not comfortable going to a theater even though I’m fully vaccinated. The world has changed and I believe moviegoing will never go back to pre covid.

I'm also fully vaccinated and not comfortable going to the theater (why risk becoming a breakthrough infection? Sure I won't get hospitalized or risk dying, but that's still a solid week or so of what feels like a really bad flu). But the world has changed and will never go back to pre-covid? Why the heck not?

[thwhtGuardian]

You can backup facts you can’t backup opinions. Do you understand there is a different between facts and opinions?
You are asking the wrong question. You should be asking me how I did I formed my opinion.

If you want to have a discussion an opinion informed by facts is preferable than one without. If ones opinions aren't supportable then one might as well be screaming at clouds and that's not something I'm interested in.

[Vakanai]

Discussions require you to back up what you're saying...if you don't want a discussion then I guess it's okay not to do that.

Actually no. Discussions don't require you to back up what you're saying - that's a debate you're thinking of. A debate is a type of discussion, but not the only one. You could be discussing something, speaking on a topic or subject, but not necessarily to prove a point. Like when discussing the weather for one example.

Just being that guy on semantics - I agree, the way luprki presented his opinions were more in the debate form of discussion than anything else, he presented it as such and now seems to be backtracking, or at least it seems so to me. Of course I'm making the assumption that English is his first language, so perhaps he did not realize his words came off as such if I happen to be wrong in that assumption.

[luprki]

If you want to have a discussion an opinion informed by facts is preferable than one without. If ones opinions aren't supportable then one might as well be screaming at clouds and that's not something I'm interested in.

I see you still don’t opinions.
Since you are not going to ask me the appropriate question, I’ll do it for you.
Question:How did luprki form the opinion that streaming will the dominant way we watch movies by 2026?
Answer: I based my opinion on raising ticket prices, attendance has been going down, covid, very short or no theatrical window, the creation of D+, P+ HBOMAX, Peacock, Sony’s deal with Netflix, Universal deal with Amazon, MGM and Amazon deal.
It seems to me that this is already happening with small indies movies.

[thwhtGuardian]

I see you still don’t opinions.
Since you are not going to ask me the appropriate question, I’ll do it for you.
Question:How did luprki form the opinion that streaming will the dominant way we watch movies by 2026?
Answer: I based my opinion on raising ticket prices, attendance has been going down, covid, very short or no theatrical window, the creation of D+, P+ HBOMAX, Peacock, Sony’s deal with Netflix, Universal deal with Amazon, MGM and Amazon deal.
It seems to me that this is already happening with small indies movies.

...and we went over those points, and they were categorically shown to be untrue. That's what I meant earlier about misinterpreting facts and mis-characterizing articles to fit your point of view. That's why I said earlier that if you phrase it as just your opinion based on your own personal tastes you're fine...but when you back it up with things that aren't true you're going to get called on it.

For instance, I'm very vocal in my dislike of just about all the writers of Batman since Morrison's run finished but I know that's just my personal opinion and never frame my criticisms as the subsequent writers not being objectively good at writing comics but rather that they are just making choices that I personally dislike(like killing Alfred!).

There's nothing wrong with those kinds of posts, but they have to be framed that way.

[luprki]

Actually no. Discussions don't require you to back up what you're saying - that's a debate you're thinking of. A debate is a type of discussion, but not the only one. You could be discussing something, speaking on a topic or subject, but not necessarily to prove a point. Like when discussing the weather for one example.

Just being that guy on semantics - I agree, the way luprki presented his opinions were more in the debate form of discussion than anything else, he presented it as such and now seems to be backtracking, or at least it seems so to me. Of course I'm making the assumption that English is his first language, so perhaps he did not realize his words came off as such if I happen to be wrong in that assumption.

I agree, I do express myself in debate form, but that how I was taught to debate. I was also taught that once you make it clear that you are speaking from opinions, you already lost the debate. The debate form is a positive of strength, a my opinion form is a positive of weakness.
I’m not backtracking, I’m just trying to make it easy for some to understand.

[luprki]

...and we went over those points, and they were categorically shown to be untrue. That's what I meant earlier about misinterpreting facts and mis-characterizing articles to fit your point of view. That's why I said earlier that if you phrase it as just your opinion based on your own personal tastes you're fine...but when you back it up with things that aren't true you're going to get called on it.

For instance, I'm very vocal in my dislike of just about all the writers of Batman since Morrison's run finished but I know that's just my personal opinion and never frame my criticisms as the subsequent writers not being objectively good at writing comics but rather that they are just making choices that I personally dislike(like killing Alfred!).

There's nothing wrong with those kinds of posts, but they have to be framed that way.

I give up, you still not getting it.

[Vakanai]

I agree, I do express myself in debate form, but that how I was taught to debate. I was also taught that once you make it clear that you are speaking from opinions, you already lost the debate. The debate form is a positive of strength, a my opinion form is a positive of weakness.
I’m not backtracking, I’m just trying to make it easy for some to understand.

So, you agree that you express yourself in debate form, that you are debating, which requires you to back up your viewpoint. And yet you also agree that these are your opinions that are unbacked and that you've lost the debate. Then why present yourself in a debate fashion to begin with instead of a "in my personal opinion that could be wrong" fashion to begin with?

[green_garnish]

I care about my viewpoint and safety , not Disney’s viewpoint.

Are we changing the discussion then? I thought it was "how will studios respond to the pandemic," rather than "how will I respond." Studios will respond with market research, scientific forecasts of viral spread, and so what they think is in their best interests in the short term. This pandemic is a thing to ride out, not the new normal.

Businesses simply are not going to continue to be multi-billion dollar businesses on streaming revenue, and they are not going to settle for less, even if ROI remains relatively constant due to declining costs.

How you personally respond to the pandemic is not what I thought the issue was here. It's how studios respond, and what choices they give us. If their forecasts and studies show that 70% of the target audience takes your view, they will make adjustments to their business model accordingly. And when the situation changes, they will make other adjustments. There are no studies i'm aware of suggesting there's a significant market share that agrees with my view (which seems close to yours, but mine is more extreme) ... those who'd rather stream than pay outrageous sums of money at the theatres under any circumstances. I'm not a target audience. I am in such a small minority I have no doubt studio executives routinely joke about it. Your view seems close enough to mine to fit in the same boat.

In my opinion, by 2026 disc's are more likely to be dead than theaters. It makes a lot more sense to set up streaming to replace that than it does a billion dollar source of revenue.

[Vakanai]

those who'd rather stream than pay outrageous sums of money at the theatres under any circumstances.

The hell is up with your local theater? No matinee?

In my opinion, by 2026 disc's are more likely to be dead than theaters. It makes a lot more sense to set up streaming to replace that than it does a billion dollar source of revenue.

God I hope you're wrong, I like my discs thank you very much. Better image, no buffering, don't have to worry about my cheap wifi plan and data, easier to access special features. If it goes all streaming that'd just flipping suck.

[green_garnish]

The hell is up with your local theater? No matinee?

They don't lower the cost of concessions at matinees. The irony is that I end up paying more for streaming in a year than I ever would for just watching movies in a theater (the ones I'm interested in) at first run prices. I'm an introvert, not really confidante in crowds, and get irritated beyond belief at people walking past me get go to the restroom or the concessions in the middle of the film.

On the other hand, I spend a lot less in a year on streaming than I would buying the disc's of everything I watched on stream.

[Vakanai]

They don't lower the cost of concessions at matinees. The irony is that I end up paying more for streaming in a year than I ever would for just watching movies in a theater (the ones I'm interested in) at first run prices. I'm an introvert, not really confidante in crowds, and get irritated beyond belief at people walking past me get go to the restroom or the concessions in the middle of the film.

On the other hand, I spend a lot less in a year on streaming than I would buying the disc's of everything I watched on stream.

Concessions is a trap, never pay for concessions - eat before you go, or eat after. Popcorn and soda isn't worth the price. Sneak in some gum, concessions are more like keeping you busy physically as much as it is hunger or thirst.

As for theaters vs streaming vs discs, it all depends on which someone prefers and why. They all have their benefits and their (insert whatever the opposite of a benefit is here, a bit tired so my mind is just not offering up the word). But I prefer disc to streaming. The image quality is better for one, there's no buffering, there's no worry about burning through my high speed data, I can watch it whenever I want without having to make sure I'm subscribed to the right streaming service at the right time (like I wouldn't keep Disney+ year round, but I wouldn't have to resubscribe every time I wanted to watch whatever MCU/Star Wars/Disney film), and I can be confident I won't lose access to it for whatever reason.

[numberthirty]

I see you still don’t opinions.
Since you are not going to ask me the appropriate question, I’ll do it for you.
Question:How did luprki form the opinion that streaming will the dominant way we watch movies by 2026?
Answer: I based my opinion on raising ticket prices, attendance has been going down, covid, very short or no theatrical window, the creation of D+, P+ HBOMAX, Peacock, Sony’s deal with Netflix, Universal deal with Amazon, MGM and Amazon deal.
It seems to me that this is already happening with small indies movies.

Ticket prices have been going up the entire time.

That being the case, attendance has never once dropped below where it was in the early nineties.

That kicks the legs out from under the idea that ticket prices going up will actually hurt theaters in any real way.

At what point do you look at something like that actual reality, and second guess what you are basing your opinion on?

[green_garnish]

Concessions is a trap, never pay for concessions - eat before you go, or eat after. Popcorn and soda isn't worth the price. Sneak in some gum, concessions are more like keeping you busy physically as much as it is hunger or thirst.

I prefer to eat during.

As for theaters vs streaming vs discs, it all depends on which someone prefers and why. They all have their benefits and their (insert whatever the opposite of a benefit is here, a bit tired so my mind is just not offering up the word).

Un-benefits.

But I prefer disc to streaming.

As I mentioned to someone else, the issue isn't what you prefer, it's what the provider prefers. To me, it doesn't take much imagination to see that streaming is ultimately designed to eliminate the cost of pressing and packaging discs, and provide a more reliable revenue stream than physical media ever could. If they thought a significant part of the market wouldn't put up with it, they wouldn't consider it, but clearly that market share is pretty small even at this stage of streaming evolution.

[Vakanai]

I prefer to eat during.

Each their own - the theater concessions can't compete with the Taco Bell across the street from my local theater.

Un-benefits.

That's the word!

As I mentioned to someone else, the issue isn't what you prefer, it's what the provider prefers. To me, it doesn't take much imagination to see that streaming is ultimately designed to eliminate the cost of pressing and packaging discs, and provide a more reliable revenue stream than physical media ever could. If they thought a significant part of the market wouldn't put up with it, they wouldn't consider it, but clearly that market share is pretty small even at this stage of streaming evolution.

True - hopefully they still prefer the occasional limited release on discs to make money on folks like me in addition to getting those streaming dollars. If they can make discs stay profitable without competing with their own streaming subscriptions, that would be best. Because streaming just isn't as good as watching it on disc. Someday maybe, but it just isn't there yet.