Will COVID-19 end theatrical movies

[Gaastra]

Plus spidey spin-offs like venom, into the spider-verse and others also.

Sony is fine.

[Holt]

Regal Cinemas has shut down again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/b...-shutdown.html

[Gaastra]

AMC says it's staying open.


https://deadline.com/2020/10/amc-sta...wn-1234591732/

[luprki]

The theaters are learning that there isn’t enough stupid people who will risk their life for a movie. I expect AMC will eventually give up and closed too. Theaters was already going out, covid just speeded up that process. Streaming and VOD is the future and the future is here.

[Vakanai]

The theaters are learning that there isn’t enough stupid people who will risk their life for a movie. I expect AMC will eventually give up and closed too. Theaters was already going out, covid just speeded up that process. Streaming and VOD is the future and the future is here.

Disagree that theaters were already going out - there's nothing to support that. Before covid there was no dip or anything. I don't know where this belief comes from.
Theaters were fine before covid, will probably recover after covid, and were never on a downward trend before this virus broke out.

[luprki]

Non-blockbusters wasn’t doing that well, attendance was down.

[Scott Taylor]

Couple of drive ins around here still seem to be doing ok. In fact I think this has caused quite an increase in business for them.

Harkins near me is open. Seems well attended but I decided not to go still.

[Noodle]

The theaters are learning that there isn’t enough stupid people who will risk their life for a movie. I expect AMC will eventually give up and closed too. Theaters was already going out, covid just speeded up that process. Streaming and VOD is the future and the future is here.

Three of the top 10 highest grossing movies of all time came out just last year. I hardly consider that a sign theaters were dying before COVID.

[Midvillian1322]

Non-blockbusters wasn’t doing that well, attendance was down.

Yea but we were getting more Blockbusters then ever. And when Covid ends there will be either A Marvel or DC movie coming out every month. Then there are still other non comic big Blockbusters that will be coming out (Bond,Fast 9 or whatever, Dune etc. )

Some Theaters chains might get bought out but I doubt they go anywhere and there will most likely be a huge surge once either a vaccine or really effective treatment is made widely available. Blockbusters are becoming bigger and bigger and have been where Theaters got there audience from for awhile now. Covid might kill some of the theaters chains and for sure some independent theaters. But I doubt that infrastructure doesn't get bought out by someone else. There's gonna be a cornucopia of films waiting on the other end of this.

Also the AMC out here in Idaho is doing well. I'm sure some Amcs will close especially in badly impacted areas but in some of the less effected places in middle America will stay open. Though iono if attendance will stay up when they have no new movies. I'm from California and yea nobody's is going to theaters there. So I think AmC will close back down but they won't do it nation wide unless its cause the lack of new content.

[Vakanai]

Non-blockbusters wasn’t doing that well, attendance was down.

Non-blockbusters, do you know how many billion dollar blockbusters there were every year? Never mind the still highly profitable non-billion dollar ones. Why would you bother talking about the non-blockbusters as if that's relevant to the health of theaters? Blockbusters were keeping them plenty busy and plenty healthy until covid.

It's like saying a pizzeria is about to go belly under if you ignore pizza sales and only focus on the bread sticks and salads side of the business.

[phonogram12]

Nothing beats the movie theater experience for me and the moment my wife and I can receive a proven vaccine, we will be first in line at one.

[WebLurker]

Another casualty; Soul is skipping theaters to be a Disney+ exclusive.

Damn you, Disney!

[mikelmcknight72]

I have always loved the theater experience. When it was more affordable, I use to go to the theater at least 3-4 times per month. That being said, I've come to prefer the at-home experience for a number of reasons:

- Food and drink at home are far more affordable at home.
- I can pause the film if I need to use the bathroom.
- If I'm patient, the actual cost of viewing the film is cheaper than going to the theater.
- No dealing with people who won't shut up or are constantly on their phones.

In my opinion, COVID merely accelerated a shift that was coming anyway.

On a more personal note, I've had a worsening of my already severe PTSD in the last 24 months. This meant that loud experiences with dimmed lights such as movie theaters and church worship services have become extremely difficult for me. The at-home experience affords a way to control the variables that trigger PTSD episodes.

[WebLurker]

On a more personal note, I've had a worsening of my already severe PTSD in the last 24 months. This meant that loud experiences with dimmed lights such as movie theaters and church worship services have become extremely difficult for me. The at-home experience affords a way to control the variables that trigger PTSD episodes.

That's fair.

[Vakanai]

In my opinion, COVID merely accelerated a shift that was coming anyway.

You kind of can't assume that your experience going to the theater less was representative of a real shift, much less one that covid sped up.