Are movie theaters dying out?

Emma Schaible/Fourth Estate

 Can streaming new movies and digital rentals become the new norm?

BY TYLER MANDELL, STAFF WRITER

Movies are one of the most important forms of entertainment and art in pop culture. Film successes from 2024, such as Inside Out 2 and Wicked, created over $2 billion in ticket sales and became inescapable conversational talking points for months afterwards.

Since their inception in 1896,  “cinemas” were the ideal place to see the newest films.

 Whether it was an opportunity to see a movie or share the experience with others, theaters remained the sole standard of film intake. The same cannot be said in recent years. 

Recent developments in film distribution have impacted the popularity of theaters as the default way to experience new movies. More options that allow viewers to watch films from home have become more popular, such as streaming services and video-on-demand. 

The first major shift in film distribution came from the rise of streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Viewers could not only watch popular titles at home after the initial distribution in theaters, but also original programming exclusive to certain services. This was the case for  shows such as Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, which attracted viewers to subscribe to HBO and Netflix, respectively.  

Movie theaters were further impacted during the pandemic. In 2020, COVID-19 forced theaters to close and studios to delay several highly anticipated blockbusters by several months or even a full year. These included movies such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avatar: The Way of Water. An inflation surge in mid-2021 increased the prices of many commodities, movie tickets included. According to The New York Times, the average ticket price in 2023 was $11.93, compared to $6.88 in 2007. However, the ticket doesn’t account for concession prices, such as a small popcorn, costing approximately $10 at AMC. 

The prices of concessions aren’t a decision solely decided upon by theaters, instead determined by their relationship with film studios. I interviewed Erin Zimmerman, an LA-based producer who had worked for Missouri-based B&B Theatres, who provided insights into theaters and their relationships with movie studios. She noted that ticket sales go almost entirely to studios, with theaters mainly making their money from concessions. Whether a theater chain can even get a film depends on following specific mandates from studios so they can keep receiving new movies.

“A studio will say, ‘If you want this film, you need to play it on 72 screens the first week… and even if people don’t buy tickets, you still have to play it,’” Zimmerman said. “DCPs–Digital Cinema Packages, or digital film files distributed to cinemas–track the screenings, so they know how many times you’ve played the film, or whether you’re playing it at all.”

Five Mason students, all passionate film fans and some even studying film, also gave feedback on the current state of movie theaters. All stated that the problems theaters are experiencing are because of Hollywood and their choice in film production.

“Hollywood has a big responsibility to produce things [people] want to see,” said senior Joel Alexander. “If something did well in the past, [they think] that means it will do well again. To some extent that’s true, but that mentality has gone overboard, and we’ve been getting uninteresting movies that are the same things we’ve seen before.”

Zimmerman echoed this idea, “Creative ideas are constantly pitched and studios keep trying again on formulas that they think will be blockbuster hits… It’s just a non-starter.”

Despite the high prices and lackluster variety of movies showing, many regular filmgoers view going to the cinemas as the definitive way to see a film. The theater has a certain intimacy and intensity that can’t be replicated.

“[The theater’s] atmosphere can add substantially to the experience,” said sophomore James Beggs. “There are countless movies that if I hadn’t seen in theaters, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much because that added so much to the experience.”

Despite streaming and video-on-demand viewings continuing in popularity, the nostalgia associated with theaters won’t allow them to be erased easily. It’s impossible to say whether theaters will fully die out, especially as their mortality depends on Hollywood business decisions. As long as audiences keep finding reasons to show up, they’ll live on.

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