by Nick Ferro, Contributing Writer
I love going to the movies. The theater experience is one of my greatest joys. It started when I was young; some of my best memories are my mom taking my brother and me to see the latest Disney animated film, or when my dad took me to see Star Trek VI or Jurassic Park. Going to see an adventure play out on the big screen is unlike any other. Theaters have booming sound which no home theater system can replicate, although some people certainly have tried, but let’s face it, in this economy it is not an easy feat. Nicole Kidman may have worn out her welcome from our local AMC theaters, but her message (that I can repeat for you on command and without warning) is as true a statement as anyone can make. I go to the theater because it offers me something that I can’t get at home. Like being scared by crazy moments in a horror movie. There is nothing better than that chuckle that we all make after a jump scare because it was a little silly that an entire room full of grown adults collectively shrieked. I go to the theater to experience a comedy with a room full of people laughing along, because sometimes movies are just funnier when there are more people laughing with you. Can anyone reading this truly say that seeing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Avengers: Endgame, or Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, opening night would have been better if they were by themselves at home? Whether you are going to see the next big blockbuster or the next entry in your favorite auteur’s filmography, there is no comparing the experience of the theater to a 50-inch flat screen.
So why is Hollywood trying to kill the theatrical model? And is it even Hollywood doing it? Ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a sharp and steady decline of the theatrical model, which has led to the biggest loss in theatrical profits in many years. Even big blockbusters that would normally entice audiences into seeing them for fear of not being spoiled are no longer drawing in a crowd like they once did. Most people want to point a finger at the “streaming wars” and call it a day, but I believe that it goes much deeper than that. Theaters are absolutely losing business because, why bother going out to see the latest movie when you know it will be available at home for a fraction of the price in one to three months from now? “Oh, this movie is a Part One? I can definitely wait until Part Two comes out next year. No rush.” I have dozens of friends and coworkers who think I am crazy for going to the theaters once a week. They go maybe four times a year total, and that number is just going down, because it is so convenient to just wait to see the movie at home. Why go to the theater? The movies themselves are just as good as movies you can watch at home on streaming. People talk too much or are on their phones. There are never any staff to keep people from being disruptive. The bathrooms are never clean. The lines for concessions are too long because there aren’t enough staff. It just isn’t worth it. And that’s not to mention the outside factors that exist. People spend so much time on their phones doom scrolling to kill time, being entertained by a screen, that if they can actually afford to leave the house, they want experiences nowadays. Friends of mine went axe throwing last week. There are escape rooms, sip and paint parties, archery, trivia nights, or just flat-out travel. The price of movies is ever-increasing because the studios are constantly overspending on blockbusters. Underpaying and overworking their visual effects artists, which leads to huge blockbusters looking unfinished, and making people wondering if Hollywood has just turned into one big shell corporation for investment firms to use to launder money.
Recently, IndieWire conducted a survey which indicated that 34% of the people polled preferred to wait for a movie to be streaming rather than see it in a theater. This kind of thinking is exactly why theaters are failing, and proves that we need to give people a reason to not want to wait. If we want to save the theatrical experience, what needs to happen is a shift back to the old ways of thinking. Back in the long, long ago, the before times, if you will, we had to wait about six months before a movie would come out to VHS or DVD. Back then, because it took so long for a movie to come out for home viewing, it made going to the theaters more enticing. Waiting a month or two to be part of the conversation is nothing. Waiting half a year?
Especially today when everything has to be consumed as fast as possible and our attention spans have shrunk to only tolerating the length of a TikTok, lengthening out the release window does something else: It keeps a movie in theaters longer. Why would we want movies in theaters longer? Well, I’m glad you asked! It endlessly infuriates me that when a movie that isn’t a major blockbuster comes out, it plays for one week and then is either just gone or limited to a single weekday matinee for a couple weeks before disappearing. How is a movie supposed to make money or gain attention if you blink and it’s gone? On top of that, if heaven forbid these smaller movies be unfortunate enough to share a release date with a huge blockbuster, then forget about it. A great example was this past summer which saw the release of Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Theater Camp all in the same week. How was Theater Camp supposed to survive in that climate with only a week to succeed? It was steamrolled. It is wild to think that three of my favorite 2023 movies all released the same weekend, but it’s sad to think that one was so vastly underseen because it wasn’t able to draw attention away from two major studio blockbusters. Sure, Theater Camp is now available on Hulu, but this is exactly the type of movie that you want to watch in a theater with a crowd. It is so funny and it has a communal element which would have played well if it had been allowed to stay in theaters long enough to find that crowd. Honestly, the studio should have released this movie in the spring during high schools’ musical season. They may have gotten a bump from school theater clubs making a trip to see it as a group.
The studios need to have more faith in the legs of a movie and be not so reliant on the opening weekend returns. Look at movies from this past year like Elemental, Anyone But You, and Migration. All of them opened small, but were allowed to stay in theaters longer than was typical and good word of mouth has led to them staying on long enough to become profitable in the theatrical market. They all had reasonable budgets and ended up doing well. Why can’t the studio make this the norm, rather than the minority? Cord Jefferson put it best during his acceptance speech for American Fiction winning best Adapted Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards: Rather than make one two 100-million-dollar movies, make 20 10-million-dollar movies instead. Take that risk, because what it results in is new talent getting to make new and original ideas that get audiences excited to go to the movies again.
But even if we can’t convince the studios to focus on smaller movies and allow those smaller budgeted films more time to grow their audience, why dump them on streaming right away? There needs to be a stronger reliance on physical media. Everyone is trying to eliminate DVD sales. Brick and mortar stores like Walmart and Target have vastly reduced their DVD sections, and Best Buy has eliminated them altogether. My question is, why? The older generation is not one that screams, “We love new technologies,” so what makes the studios think that they will jump on the digital bandwagon? Why leave that piece of pie on the table? But don’t just invest in physical media; make it so that physical media is the only choice! If a movie comes out in May, make it available to buy at home by Christmas, and make it so that it doesn’t hit streaming until Easter. Give people a reason to say, “I want to see that now, so I want to have it now, but I don’t want to wait until it’s on streaming.” This model worked for decades, but the misguided idea that streaming was the only way to make money has left people no longer caring. Why buy a movie when I can stream it for free? Why go out to the theater when it will be at home in a month? I can’t believe that I am the only one who thinks this is crazy!
And sure, I don’t have the numbers to back up anything that I am saying. I don’t have access to the databases the studios have which are probably telling them that everything I’ve just said is wrong. But if I am wrong, then why have the theatrical and physical media markets been on such a steep decline? Why are major studios like Fox, Paramount, and Warner Brothers all being bought and sold and merged and distorted? These investment firms and industry leaders who are more worried about shareholders and profit margins and Quarter Two earnings of this month’s fiscal blah, blah, blah, are just looking to get paid the most money right away. They don’t seem to care if they leave the industry bloody and broken. Once they get their check, they will move on to the next investment. I guess we asked for it. We want instant gratification of a 30-second TikTok video, and they want the instant gratification of a big box office opening weekend. Why bother to make something of value that lasts?
How do we fix this? What is the solution? I think in part it is community. I know its more mainstream to be afraid of “Peopling.” Who can blame us? We spent the better part of a year and a half in isolation, avoiding a plague. But what better way to up our immune systems then getting your friends together and having an evening at the movies? It is literally the least amount of “peopling” you have to do, to get you back into the swing of things. Think back to the fun of Barbenheimer weekend. My local theater was abuzz with people dressed up, and the excitement was palpable. Dune: Part Two was another big one, where there was a very excited and engaged audience. Not to mention that ridiculously sexy popcorn bucket! What is to stop us from experiencing that all the time? The theater chains should work to provide the audience a better experience by creating offerings that entice the movie going audience. Whereas the studios need to start focus on creating quality over quantity. Fewer movies that are overall better movies will give people fewer options. I know if you throw too many choices at my wife, she gets brain locked and shuts down, unable to make a decision. Many people are the same way, so the studio should help make the choice for them. Sure, we run the risk of treating streaming like we did straight-to-DVD movies back in the day, but truthfully, aren’t most of us already doing that anyway? I know I’m guilty of subconsciously viewing streaming exclusive movies as less-than. If they stop putting those movies in theaters, then people will start to see theaters as a desirable place to visit more frequently.
We need to go back to what worked. Because we need that — all of us. The theater experience doesn’t just entertain, so it needs to be reborn. Perhaps together we can do that, by going to the big silver screen, to feel the sound and watch the dazzling images. Perhaps Nicole Kidman was right: Heartbreak does feel good in a place like this… I can tell you that I will be heartbroken if the theatrical experience ever goes away, and I will be equally heartbroken if I can no longer collect physical media. My only hope is that someone in a position of power has a wakeup call soon. Because going to the movie theaters really does make movies better. This spring is shaping up to have some really exciting movies, with Civil War, Monkey Man, The Fall Guy, and Challengers, and even more to come later in the year. If you love going to the movie theaters and want that experience to continue and get better, talk these movies up with your friends. Plan a group night out! Encourage people you know to see the movies you loved, and focus on why the theatrical experience should be the way to experience them, because waiting for streaming should be the concession, not the preference.
You can read more from Nick Ferro, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd