Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theaters have struggled with attendance. What used to be booming centers for the most recent blockbusters nearly completely shut down with the virus’ spread, dealing a critical blow to the once massive industry. More than five years later, attendance is not at its pre-pandemic levels, in part due to the rise of streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max.
And with the ongoing merger of Warner Bros. with a larger streaming service, theaters are at risk. Film studies teacher and producer Mark Scheibmeir attributes this shift away from theaters to many changes in society, particularly the shortened attention spans of consumers.
“We’ve used the phrase attention economy: the situation where there are now a lot more things competing for our attention,” Scheibmeir said. “You only have so many hours in the day, and there’s become this appetite for short-form content because we may only have 15, 20 or 30 minutes in a day. That doesn’t mean theaters are dead; it just means that our habits have changed because our attention’s shifting.”
With audiences constantly seeking new experiences, movie distributors are constantly trying new tactics to bring in cash, whether that means only releasing on certain streaming platforms or trying out quirky marketing campaigns. A recent hit, “Marty Supreme,” is an example of this experimentation that studios like A24 are testing out.
“For a movie like ‘Marty Supreme,’ it’s not even about the movie,” Scheibmeir said. “How many people are actually going to go see a ping pong movie, but when you have all the advertising Timothee Chalamet was doing, it was great. I saw all these marketing strategies, but what I didn’t see was a trailer.”
This innovation upon and departure from traditional film strategies can also be seen in the declining number of movie stars, which used to push admirers into filling theaters, just another example of the evolving landscape that is beginning to favor other forms of media over long-form content.
“When I was a student, movie stars were everywhere,” Scheibmeir said. “Now, there’s been this slow and steady decline of them and what they do to help the box office. They were essentially a marketing invention to elevate an actor to the level where you’re not watching a movie but watching that actor. Hollywood is trying to find new ways to market and create demand.”
As sophomore film student Jack Wilson points out, many people either can’t or just prefer not to drive to a theater. For him, the process involved in watching a movie can be deterring. Pricing is another huge component. As theaters adjust prices to match inflation and labor, the cost gap between streaming service prices grows.
“Streaming services are absolutely growing.” Wilson said. “It adds to the fact that people don’t want to go to the theater anymore. It’s more expensive to go to a theater and buy a soda and a bag of popcorn than it is to sit at home with the same. It’s flat out more expensive.”
Some actors and directors, however, prefer their movies to be watched in theaters. Tom Cruise, for example, encourages people to watch his movies in theaters. With the “Avatar” film series, Wilson argues that movies with dramatic images and unique atmospheres can’t be replaced on the couch in a living room.
“When you sit at home and you watch these movies, you could be with a friend, you could be with other people, but you kind of lack that big experience,” Wilson said.
It’s an uphill battle, though. As theaters battle ever-increasing prices, it will be harder and harder for theaters to stay profitable.
“I think streaming services are going to continuously get better,” Wilson said. “The landscape is drastically going to change once Netflix fully owns Warner Bros. It’s really gonna change. But I still think that there’s always going to be a market.”
For Scheibmeir and other indie film creators, online services may be the only way for their movies to get published, and even then, the process is difficult.
“When you’re a filmmaker, getting your product onto Netflix or Amazon Prime is a herculean effort: that side of the business isn’t as friendly to filmmakers,” Scheibmeir said. “YouTube has been friendly to creators since the beginning; that’s what they rely on. There’s an opportunity there.”
This inherent difficulty and risk of a low return-on-investment has gradually pushed companies away from mid-budget movies, which now find themselves mainly on streaming platforms. This lack of a more consistent stream of new movies into theaters on a weekly or bi-weekly basis has resulted in viewers only coming in for the occasional blockbuster.
“One of the things about film is that it’s a risky business,” Scheibmeir said. “You can make a hundred-million-dollar movie and have people who think it’s terrible. The argument for middle-budget movies is that you get to take a lot more (chances). That’s one of the reasons for the rise of horror over the past few decades: that format allows for a little lower budget that can still way outperform.”
Still, though, even with the recent decline of attendance in the past decade, Scheibmeir believes that movie theaters offer a unique experience that their at-home alternatives cannot, and he encourages students not to write off the experience for the sometimes more convenient Netflix binge session or Amazon Prime deep-dive.
“There is a social aspect to leaving your house and going anywhere,” Scheibmeir said. “You are opening yourself up for conversation, for interactions. I think what’s lost on people sometimes is that they don’t realize that going to the theater still has that idea. You connect deeply with yourself and also all the people around you, and you leave the theater feeling a little bit more human.”
