A while ago it was possible to have a video store every other block and the king of them was Blockbuster. Now instead you see a Redbox on every corner and sad, empty store fronts. I honestly feel like that might be happening to movie theaters. Goodness knows films barely have time to be announced in theaters before they're shuffled off to the 1.50 theater and then released onto DVD. One of the things allowing them to hold on is that internet quality is very patchworked in many places - especially the United States, but that is slowly changing. So then as the title asks - will that progression in quality lead to a loss of theaters as people stay home on the couch instead? I hope not, but then it's been quite a while since I visited a theater myself.
Maybe not in the near future as a lot of people prefer seeing certain movies on the "big" screen. It's also a reason to get out of the house once in while. Sometimes it's not really the movie but the other activities that involves in watching a movie in a theater that makes it extra special than just watching a DVD at home.
I agree with Eppie. The movies is all about the experience for me, last night I went out with three friends and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. The film was pretty good but I really enjoyed catching up with friends and having a laugh. Plus, films are way better on the big screen , as long as you don't get some annoying people in there ruining the experience.
I don't think cinemas are going anywhere soon. There is still something to watch movies in the cinema. As big as displays has become, there's no beating the feeling you'll get watching movies in theaters. No matter how good audio/visual equipments have become, it's still no match for what you get in movie theaters.
Streaming is more of a personal experience while going to the movie theaters is more of a group experience. Being able to stream movies at your own home is of course nice but I think it wouldn't be able to completely replace movie theaters. This could probably be compared to social media sites and meeting your real life friends. Your friends in the social media networks cannot and will not replace your friends in real life. Also, chatting in social media sites cannot replace actually going out with friends.
i agree with everyone else. Theaters are here to stay. In fact some production companies rely primarily on what the movie makes in the cinema because once it's released elsewhere, pirates pounce on it, share it free, etc., etc. Should people eventually start preferring online streaming over going to the theater then I'm sure you'd have to pay more for that. That said though, I normally buy DVDs only. Streaming kills the experience for me.
As long as theaters will show movies a month or two before they're available for streaming or released on Blu Ray, movie theaters are here to stay. Personally I enjoy going to a movie theater as an experience - big screen, awesome sound and tasty (but overpriced) popcorn. Only thing I hate about movie theaters are other movie watchers checking their phones during the movie.
Seeing a movie on the big screen is a totally different experience... The whole room was designed to heighten how your senses react. From the size of the screen, the dark room, the quality of the sound... It's just not the same experience. I hope they don't go away, because I'll totally lose hope in humanity. Might as well just give the world to North Korea...
Going to the movies is a social activity, although we have movie night at home with the family it is not the same. I do not see the movies going out of business soon. The closing of places like Blockbusters was more due to advanced technology all though technology has improved the ability to see movies at home it is not the same. The big screen does make a big difference. I saw Transformers on my computer free but I intend to see it at the theaers because of the big screen and sound.
I'm betting that it will decrease in popularity but it will be a very gradual process. Perhaps in 10 years or more there will be a stagnation in the creation of theaters and maybe then they will slowly become more and more of a novelty. However. I don't think they will completely go away since it is not likely that people would get that big of a screen at home and there will probably always be a market for people want to experience it that way.
Theatres will be here for awhile i think, but I think it's already progressing more towards streaming. Movies are just getting too expensive to go to very often anymore. Treated my family to a movie outing about a month ago and after tickets, popcorn, and a few drinks, it was a $50 outing. That's fine every once in awhile, but just not a reasonable price to do very often for most people. And with TV picture quality becoming better and better, it won't be long until your TV home will match the movie picture quality.
No, I don't see it dying out at all. As long as the film industry release its movies much earlier in the theater than in any other platform, people are still going to flock to the movies. There is also the social aspect of it that people really enjoy. Where are you going to take a first date, to watch a movie at your house? Of course not.
No I don't see theaters fading actually. I mean sure you can stream or watch the latest movies in HD on your living room but some people, myself included still love watching films on the big screen. Yes it is expensive but it has its charm. I don't know about your place, but in the theaters where I go, they really set up the place to make it enjoyable to watch movies on.
Considering the fact that 300 million people reside in the United States, I don't think that theaters will ever suffer financially. However, the current theaters have been upgraded to cater to peoples desire of comfort and luxury. I live in Kansas City, Mo. and we have theaters that have mechanical recliners and bar with much better food. The internet just gives people a different option.
I think movie theaters will always be around, and they even have made some large improvements, like the IMAX for example. So I guess as long as there are people willing to spend money to watch movies in the cinema, then movie theaters won't be obsolete even though less people go there nowadays.
Theater owners will always come up with something interesting for you to go to their cinemas. There is a luxury theater here that I know of where you can enjoy a back massage while watching the movie. So yeah, I agree with what most of the people here say that theaters are not going away soon.
Well, the movie industry in North America alone made just under $11.0 billion last year. That's probably $11 billion more than you made last year, so theaters aren't going to disappear anytime soon. The worldwide industry earned many times that figure, and we're not even including the money that theaters pull in for concessions and other features. Record revenues in the past few years. Theaters are here to stay for the next decade at the very least.
No not really. I mean, if you have a giant movie theater screen up your house than sure you don't need to go to the theaters. Although it's not really necessary now since you can watch HD movies in your living room, but still, it's much more entertaining to watch movies on a big screen.
The movie theaters are her to stay. As bootlegging continues to progress in quality and swiftness when it comes out, theaters will just continue to press the envelope on how they accommodate their customers by always upgrading and making the theater experience a more enjoyable and realistic atmosphere. The theaters here in Kansas City, Mo. now have nice plush recliner seats with motorized controls for comfort adjustments.
I don't have much sympathy for the movie theaters to be honest, they are the ones who failed to update their businesses over the years when the writing has been on the wall for quite some time now. It costs about 70 grand per projector to upgrade them to the newer digital formats, which is expensive, but that's really a one-time cost and it will last them for years. Many of these failing theaters are still showing movies that have been printed on film - and are loaded with scratches and dust, not to mention just poor image quality overall. A couple years ago I lived right next to a movie theater, so I would walk over and catch a movie once in a while by myself in the afternoons. I was really astonished how bad the audio and video quality was for a movie theater when compared to my own home flat screen television. The picture was all faded and flat, and the sound quality - which may have been considered good for it's time - is nothing compared to a basic home theater sound system at home which you can get for a few hundred dollars. The other issue is the seats are just flat out uncomfortable. They need to rip them out and put in more spacious comfortable seating with arm rests for everyone, and plenty of walking room for people to get seated or come and go during the movie. I'm a bigger guy and it's miserable trying to enjoy a movie in those tiny theater seats. It's not like many of these failing theaters are having sold-out showings, usually the theater isn't even half full. You're better off making your customer who do come to your theater comfortable, than making the seating so cramped that even they don't want to go. They also need to stop gouging customers on concessions, and bring the prices back down to something more reasonable. As it stands right now, you are better off going out for some appetizers and drinks before the movie, than wasting so much money on some stale popcorn and overpriced soda. I could order like two appetizers and a cocktail for what I would pay for one box of popcorn and a pop at a theater.
