Are traditional movie theaters slowly on their way out? Will streaming claim its next victim?

[Tabonga | 2,328]

2 hours ago, JamesRobot said:

One simply must stay abreast of current trends, Gillis baby.

"ZELDA!"

[Boosted52405 | 178]

14 hours ago, DoctorEncore said:

Theaters will limp along in some format, but it won't be the current one. They have barely innovated in the last thirty years and no media business can survive stagnation. Movie viewing at home has improved dramatically, but the theater experience has stayed the same or maybe even worsened.

When I was a kid, tickets were $3 for a new release evening showing and now they're $10-15. When I was a kid, we had a tiny analog TV with a few over the air channels and a VCR: now I have a 4K 65" OLED behemoth with high speed internet, an Ulta-HD Blu-ray player, and Dolby Atmos surround sound. At a theater I'm surrounded by mouthbreathers texting on their phones and yelling at the screen, while at home I've got pitch black, perfect silence, the ability to pause the movie for any reason (although I rarely do), and snacks of my choosing at a fraction of the cost.

The only thing movie theaters have going for them is the social aspect, which can be a big positive. Having a few beers and watching The Exorcist on the big screen with a bunch of horror afficianados sounds like a blast! Watching the Avengers 14: The Avengening with a bunch of yahoos clapping and throwing $15 popcorn does not.

Streaming Trolls at home saved me at least $50 and everyone in the family loved it. Universal got to keep 80% of the money I paid instead of 50%. The only people who lost anything were the middle men, AKA theater owners. Movie theaters charge MORE money for an INFERIOR product and they know it. That's why they are being so vocal and claiming they will take their ball and go home. This is their last gasp as they fade into oblivion.

This matched my feelings nearly 100% on this matter, I hate to say I am starting to feel this way about sporting events too (NFL/NCAAF games for example).  An at-home experience is so budget friendly these days, but of course there are high-end options of all and everything.  The control/convenience factor is pretty awesome if you have kids to wrangle.

I know someone that has a bar/drink station and a commercialish popcorn station that leads into a theatre room with lighting, surround, and leveled luxo seating mostly all controlled with a touch screen.

When it costs a family ~$100 for a prime time "movie experience" on a Saturday night - I struggle to see that lasting.  Doesn't even include dinner so bam that would make it a $150-200 night on the town, no thank you.

[JamesRobot | 5,819]

2 hours ago, Tabonga said:

5 hours ago, JamesRobot said:

6 hours ago, Tabonga said:

So you are the Chatsworth Osborne Jr. of your  milieu?

 

One simply must stay abreast of current trends, Gillis baby.

"ZELDA!"

[Strange | 1,700]

6 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

I'll edit as I work through this, but the "theater and distributor split" arguement don't fly. The first week the split is usually 90%+ the distributor, 10% to the theater. It typically lowers every week after the movie stays in theaters.

The commercials were just greed. It started with the carousels, which weren't terrible. Light music played, I learned some trivia, let's all go to the lobby. Then it clicked they could do the trailers. I remember splicing in that first coke ad. Then it was like AOL. Then insurance or some bullshit. 

Fuck handouts at the box office. 

Theaters make their money off cheap soda and popcorn. Source, I used to manage theaters.

I do like beer. That was a nice addition. Thanks Alamo!

If I go see something in the theater these days, it's usually because someone got out a 35mm print or Alamo is doing some special screening I'm interested in. I saw Logan Noir in the theater and was glad I did.

I hear you. In your honest opinion, do you see the model as sustainable? Especially when so many people are sneaking in their stuff when they do go? (I dated a girl who snuck in a damn 20 piece chicken nugget when we went to see a movie)

My friend has been a regular employee at his theater for damn near a decade now. He wants to move up to a manager position but the people above him are young 30-something dudes who are complacent and stagnant where they are so he can’t move up. The higher ups won’t let him move to another location either.

[Ferris Bueller | 495]

49 minutes ago, The Strangest said:

I hear you. In your honest opinion, do you see the model as sustainable? Especially when so many people are sneaking in their stuff when they do go? (I dated a girl who snuck in a damn 20 piece chicken nugget when we went to see a movie)

My friend has been a regular employee at his theater for damn near a decade now. He wants to move up to a manager position but the people above him are young 30-something dudes who are complacent and stagnant where they are so he can’t move up. The higher ups won’t let him move to another location either.

My sister in-law's family opened a one screen theater like mid 2000s. They're doing great. The rent it out so people can play video games on the big screen. I think they have the ability to play both old movies and first-run titles. When they started, I was worried for them.

Guess what? They're doing great and I think expanded.

It's the giant cineplexes that I think you're going to see close. 30 screen theaters I think came during this time to see who could do the biggest, and either you're going to see mid-size theaters go and it's just huge multi screen theaters and single screen theaters, or the big ones go away and you see more manageable theaters in the like 3-5 screen range.

You wanna hear something really funny, I graduated with a degree in film, ran more than one theater as manager, and volunteered putting films together for the Austin Film Festival and SXSW, who at the time was ranked alongside Sundance and Cannes for how well we treated the prints we handled. NO ONE would hire me. They all said I had to start at concession and I laughed at them. I just wanted to do projection a little bit longer when I saw that film was on the way out.

I recently made a documentary about the unreleased Earth Bound for the NES.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Ferris Bueller

[Tulpa | 3,529]

3 minutes ago, Ferris Bueller said:

My sister in-law's family opened a one screen theater like mid 2000s. They're doing great. The rent it out so people can play video games on the big screen. I think they have the ability to play both old movies and first-run titles. When they started, I was worried for them.

Guess what? They're doing great and I think expanded.

It's the giant cineplexes that I think you're going to see close. 30 screen theaters I think came during this time to see who could do the biggest, and either you're going to see mid-size theaters go and it's just huge multi screen theaters and single screen theaters, or the big ones go away and you see more manageable theaters in the like 3-5 screen range.

You wanna hear something really funny, I graduated with a degree in film, ran more than one theater as manager, and volunteered putting films together for the Austin Film Festival and SXSW, who at the time was ranked alongside Sundance and Cannes for how well we treated the prints we handled. NO ONE would hire me. They all said I had to start at concession and I laughed at them.

I recently made a documentary about the unreleased Earth Bound for the NES.

That's very similar to what happened to bookstores. Little mom and pops were being driven out by Barnes and Noble and Borders.

Then Amazon happened.

Now the mom and pop and small indies are on the rise again. Borders closed, B&N is on the ropes.

[Estil | 1,265]

Oh yes, I remember especially when seeing the first Turtles movie and Independence Day in the theater back when going to the theater and getting that special popcorn (though you end up eating nearly all of it before the movie starts!!) was truly a magical special sort of thing.  Nowadays, especially upon me finding out half the time the "special popcorn" is not freshly popped but is put in a "popcorn maker" to appear like it's freshly popped  ...it's like, what's the point?  So if the movie theaters die...

 

[DefaultGen | 5,426]

I can't believe how well theaters are still doing honestly (pandemic aside). Seeing a movie isn't a special thing anymore. I watch a movie pretty much every other day, no commercials, no renting a tape, same resolution as the digital theater projector, TV ten times bigger than the one I had 15 years ago, and I start it whenever I want. The movie "experience" at home is arguably better than the theater in many ways. Unless I'm dead center in a quiet, clean, comfortable, uncrowded theater, I'd rather be home.

I get the event movies like Star Wars or Endgame where you can't be late to the party, or want the crowd energy, or whatever, but people spent $800m to watch the latest Jumanji movie in theaters. Like, did you have to avoid Jumanji spoilers? Were you going with your Jumanji Cinematic Universe friends on opening night? Had to tell people that you were there for Jumanji 3? Wild.

Edited April 30, 2020 by DefaultGen

[MachineCode | 159]

I feel like it's a combination of high prices of not just movies, but everything else, especially necessities, combined with close to 20 years of more or less stagnant wages that killed the popularity for a lot of things that millenials get blamed for killing. Kinda hard to justify paying 20 bucks to go see a movie when you don't really have any money left over after rent, healthcare, and insane student loan bills. 2020 prices at 2003 wages was bound to have a negative effect on the general economy at some point.

[cartman | 195]

I don't think they'll go extinct any less than bars because people like going out and doing events. Even they costs more it's an experience and good excuse to hang out. Yes you can watch the movie later cheaper or for free but there's an activity in looking up some movie and telling someone about it who might go with you.