Will COVID-19 end theatrical movies

[nightwolf789]

Sad to see the end of movie theaters. I grew up going to theaters. There's nothing like sitting in the dark with other people, all of us staring up, spellbound, at a big bright screen, and just being enthralled together by an epic, mindblowing story. I remember the thrill that traveled through my blood as a small child watching ET The Extraterrestrial and the old Superman movies. Watching at home is fine, but will never be able to deliver a magical experience of the theater.

[Kirby101]

If this is how most people feel, theaters will return.

[green_garnish]

I don't see theaters going away any time soon. The problem with watching movies at home for a lot of people is the number of distractions are. I watched WW84 and I'm still not sure why Chris Pine started walking around. Seems like it had something to do with a body swap but I'm too lazy to back and see what the real story is. Also not invested enough in the story to care.

Had I seen this in a theater, where there's nothing else to do except actually watch the movie, I have a feeling both of these issues would have been diminished for me.

[luprki]

The pandemic won't be forever, and, as we've seen, fancy TVs can't replace the theater experience.

Fancy TVs was already replacing the theaters experience before covid. Except for a few blockbusters, movies theaters wasn’t doing a lot of business.

[numberthirty]

Fancy TVs was already replacing the theaters experience before covid. Except for a few blockbusters, movies theaters wasn’t doing a lot of business.

My local Cinemark theater was doing pretty well.

Honestly, most of the local theaters(that come to mind...) were.

Kinda doubt that TVs were really "Replacing The Theater Experience..."

[green_garnish]

Fancy TVs was already replacing the theaters experience before covid. Except for a few blockbusters, movies theaters wasn’t doing a lot of business.

That is not true. Fancy TVs, if anything, made the movie market grow. https://www.the-numbers.com/market/

[luprki]

I don't see theaters going away any time soon. The problem with watching movies at home for a lot of people is the number of distractions are. I watched WW84 and I'm still not sure why Chris Pine started walking around. Seems like it had something to do with a body swap but I'm too lazy to back and see what the real story is. Also not invested enough in the story to care.

Had I seen this in a theater, where there's nothing else to do except actually watch the movie, I have a feeling both of these issues would have been diminished for me.

The Chris Pine thing is weird, I went back and watch it again and still no real explanation. Watching at home or in a theater wouldn’t have made any difference. This was the failure of the filmmaker.

[luprki]

That is not true. Fancy TVs, if anything, made the movie market grow. https://www.the-numbers.com/market/

Look at your chart again. The number of tickets sold has been trending down over the last few years. The box office has been trending up, because ticket prices are going up higher than the inflation rate.
Your chart prove what I said, because less people are buying movie tickets.

[green_garnish]

Look at your chart again. The number of tickets sold has been trending down over the last few years. The box office has been trending up, because ticket prices are going up higher than the inflation rate.
Your chart prove what I said, because less people are buying movie tickets.

It's not my chart. Look at it again. You said that movie theaters weren't doing a lot of business. I'll take that increase in revenue any day. Factors you mention don't mean a hell of a lot if no one is buying what you're selling.

[green_garnish]

In any case, we should all hope that theaters are not dead. Doing so would mean we get a lot of Netflix Daredevil, and none of Avengers Endgame.

Now I know that there are those who prefer the one over the other, and I even get why, but removing the possibility of the other ever happening again, however well or poorly done, is not a good thing.

[numberthirty]

Look at your chart again. The number of tickets sold has been trending down over the last few years. The box office has been trending up, because ticket prices are going up higher than the inflation rate.
Your chart prove what I said, because less people are buying movie tickets.

Honestly?

It really doesn't.

You are asserting that fancy TVs have been replacing the theater experience.

What is happening in theater numbers doesn't actually suggest that fancy TVs are the reason for those numbers changing.

[regnak]

And not everyone can afford fancy TVs and surround sound.

[numberthirty]

And not everyone can afford fancy TVs and surround sound.

Never mind running the numbers on if it will pay off versus the occasional family movie outing.

...Or if living in an apartment would make letting said fancy TV rip counterproductive.

[Amadeus Arkham]

Analyst: 'Wonder Woman 1984' shows consumers eager to head back to the movies despite streaming threat

The sequel, which debuted in approximately 2,150 theater locations across the U.S. on Christmas day but received lackluster viewer reviews, grossed $16.7 million domestically in its opening weekend — far exceeding expectations.

Even with the downbeat reception, the results solidified the Amazon princess’ second adventure as the best performing film opening of the COVID-era — a tumultuous time period which saw even Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” fall flat with viewers. The latter only generated about $9 million during its Labor Day weekend debut this year.

However, theater markets in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco still remain shut down as COVID-19 surges nationwide.

With operations still facing 50% capacity limits across the U.S., “we estimate the $16.7M opening for ‘WW84’ could actually equate to as much as $110M - $120M box office opening under normal circumstances,” B. Riley Securities Analyst Eric Wold wrote in a recent note shared with Yahoo Finance.

“The original ‘Wonder Woman’ released in 2017 generated $103M in opening weekend box office,” according to Wold. In fact, Warner Brothers has enough confidence in the franchise to begin fast-tracking a third installment, according to the media giant.

“We believe this helps support the thesis that when consumers are allowed back to theaters with attractive content, they will once again become moviegoers — with the industry having the potential to begin returning to normal in 2022,” the analyst added.


Warner Bros. released the superhero flick in theaters the same day it debuted on the studio’s fledging streaming platform HBO Max. Earlier this month, the studio shocked the media landscape by announcing plans to air all of its 2021 movies this way.

The hybrid release strategy was immediately met with scrutiny from major theater chains, with AMC (AMC) saying Warner was sacrificing profitability in order to “subsidize its HBO Max start up.”

Although specific HBO Max numbers have not yet been released, WarnerMedia said nearly half of all paying subscribers tuned in to watch the film on its first day — with the platform setting a single-day record for downloads of its mobile app.

But the successful turnout still doesn’t mean consumers wouldn’t have preferred the big screen under a different set of circumstances.

According to Wold, “the decision made by HBO Max subscribers to watch ‘WW84’ at home was more of a decision made for them by local theaters being closed and stay-at-home restrictions, as opposed to the preferred way to watch blockbuster films going forward.”

With so much on the line, “we believe Warner Bros. is more likely than not to reverse course and abandon this plan by mid-year — and either return to a more traditional distribution strategy or adopt one similar the Universal agreement entered into with both AMC and Cinemark Holdings (CNK),” the note added.

[luprki]

It's not my chart. Look at it again. You said that movie theaters weren't doing a lot of business. I'll take that increase in revenue any day. Factors you mention don't mean a hell of a lot if no one is buying what you're selling.

The increase in revenue is because of overly inflated ticket prices, but attendance is down.