The Coronavirus’ Impact On The Film Industry Thread

[Filmfreak]

I'm all for the theatrical experience and making WB realise how dumb and unprofessional they handled things the last couple of weeks, but how exactly does this help cinemas? If anything it strengthens the streaming releases.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Cinemas do heavily rely on concessions. So get them in for cheap and maybe they buy a popcorn and such. Probably the thinking

 

[Filmfreak]

Sure, you can buy tickets in my country with 3.5-4 euros. That way they attract a great deal of audiences due to low price and make lots of money through pop corn and refreshments. What I mean is how is that helpful where WB is concerned? If they can barely make any money from cinematic releases they could very much throw them all in streaming. So that kind of leads to the opposite result.

 

[Prison Mike]

If the theaters do that....they would be REALLY dumb.

 

[zephyrinthesky]

I mean, as a consumer I say bring it on? But I’m still not going to a theatre until I’m vaccinated and this a pretty good reason for studios to not bother with theatres entirely.

 

[Sithborg]

If the theaters do that....they would be REALLY dumb.

Disagree. I have a semi local theater that does those prices on all their films. And the concessions are just as low. It does great business. It would be very smart for theaters to re-evaluate pricing coming out of the pandemic. And on the other hand, it would be just as well for the distributors to re-evaluate how much they demand of theaters (staring at you Disney). The theaters that do this will quickly see their other movies not doing as well, which is the stupid part.

 

[Prison Mike]

I just don’t see how the theaters have any kind of leverage to make these type of threats.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Collider - Tom Hanks on the Future of Movie Theaters: "A Sea Change Was Due"

The pandemic has just accelerated the timetable of some inevitable industry changes from maybe year 5-10 years away to now.



See also: Spielberg, Lucas: Internet TV is the future of entertainment - Variety (Jun. 2013)

 

[Doctor Jones]

They were spot on those years ago. The theater experience is going to become like a Broadway show. It has been slowly for the past decade but this pandemic has accelerated it.

 

[kguillou]

I guess the million $ question though is can streaming bring in the amount of revenue to studios so that they can keep bankrolling expensive features.

 

[Iceman]

The Batman being the first film to watch on the big screen for me will be special. Till then, VOD and HBOMAX here I come.

I’m not the type who would pay for VOD unless it was for one of my favourite films. I’d sign up for a streaming service for one film though and then happily see what else they’ve got. In the same way I’m not much of a PPV guy for sports even though I watch sport every day. I can wait. It’s only cinema day one midnight for major geek films where that experience can’t ever be replicated after (or going to live sport in person).

 

[zephyrinthesky]

It’s increasingly obvious to consumers that the movie theatre business has been more about an artificial monopoly, rather than providing an experience.

 

[Sithborg]

That's not what a monopoly is.

 

[Silver Surfer]

I guess the million $ question though is can streaming bring in the amount of revenue to studios so that they can keep bankrolling expensive features.

Campea did a math breakdown about Disney+ a little while back and came to the conclusion that because Disney doesn't have to pay licence fees, it can get to about 20-25 billion in annual revenue in a few years, spend 2-3 billion on operating expenses, 10 billion on production of content, and still keep 10 billion in profit. Take that for whatever that's worth.

 

[thangaran]

I certainly miss the cinema experience but I think there will be mass closures for at least several years until its able to grow again (if it does)

 

[kguillou]

Campea did a math breakdown about Disney+ a little while back and came to the conclusion that because Disney doesn't have to pay licence fees, it can get to about 20-25 billion in annual revenue in a few years, spend 2-3 billion on operating expenses, 10 billion on production of content, and still keep 10 billion in profit. Take that for whatever that's worth.

I saw that video and I can believe it. If Netflix wasnt so callous with their spending their books could easily be in the black each year earning billions in profit but they expense such a ridiculous amount of money that I dont think serves them well. But what do I know, I’m just a small time tax accountant who loves movies.

 

[zephyrinthesky]

That's not what a monopoly is.

Maybe not in the sense of who owns the product. But from a consumer’s perspective, I don’t know how else to think of theatrical exclusivity windows in the streaming age.

 

[DyeLorean]

The fact that a TV show now looks a feels like a 8-hour movie certainly doesn't help the cinema industry either. The content itself is changing.

 

[Persona]

The fact that a TV show now looks a feels like a 8-hour movie certainly doesn't help the cinema industry either. The content itself is changing.

A lot of TV has become more ambitious on multiple levels than what is coming out of Hollywood.

During the studio renaissance of the 60s and 70s, the exact opposite was true.

There is still plenty of great, audacious cinema out there but most of it isn't coming from the machine or through the popular channels. It's no wonder that the majority of people are way more into TV than movies these days, and it isn't just about ease of access or binge watching. The shows that are getting promoted to the masses are a lot more compelling than the movies that are.

 

[Doctor Jones]

If I had to choose between the cinema experience and continually losing original and or independent movies to streaming and continually making original and or independently movies, I'm choosing the latter. Streaming can really save them. The risk has been taken out. I do love how streaming has enabled people to discover great cinema they wouldn't have seen in the theater. A movie like Zodiac which flopped in 2007 I think has been getting a second life on Netflix. If that was made today it would be on Netflix. Fincher makes stuff for them. And maybe we'd see more high calibur movies made like that instead of seeing them disappear from cinemas.

Isn't that the real point? And if that's the case, what's the point in the theater for them? I understand the principle of the value of the theater experience and I cherish the theater experience and ideally want those movies to be played in a theater but practicality gets in the way. It seems outside the equation here. The theater release and the risk for these movies were never great bedfellows and weren't common enough to keep investing. I don't know, maybe sometimes we put it on a pedestal.

 

[Persona]

Yeah, it's this weird thing where I don't want theaters to fail at all, I love watching all types of movies in the theater... but a lot of the films I love most could be better off in a world where they aren't expected to make bank at the box office.

It does seem like theaters are going to survive, especially with vaccines starting to roll out, but I do think we are seeing changes in the film and exhibition industries that aren't necessarily going to revert just because it will eventually be safe enough to have more people in theaters.

 

[DyeLorean]

A lot of TV has become more ambitious on multiple levels than what is coming out of Hollywood.

Sure, but that's because there's a lot more screen time, the pacing is different, the character development, even the budget now (which was an impediment several years ago), sometimes you just can't compete with a 90 minute+ movie.
I know a lot of people that don't even watch movies anymore, they just watch tv shows and miniseries.
I still love movies more because I like to have a conclusion when I sit down and watch something. But that's just it, there's a lot more diversity and offerings out there, and I think we are in a wonderful time when it comes to content. There's SO much stuff: big movies, small movies, mid-budget movies, long series, short series, episodical shows, documentaries, you name it.
The industry is rearranging itself and the pandemic just accelerated that.

 

[Sithborg]

The fact that a TV show now looks a feels like a 8-hour movie certainly doesn't help the cinema industry either. The content itself is changing.

Probably doesn't help that a lot of the big movies were already looking like TV shows with an expensive CG budget.

 

[metaphysician]

I saw that video and I can believe it. If Netflix wasnt so callous with their spending their books could easily be in the black each year earning billions in profit but they expense such a ridiculous amount of money that I dont think serves them well. But what do I know, I’m just a small time tax accountant who loves movies.

I suspect its part of the plan. Note that they could conceivably cut back on their spending, if the venture capital starts getting a bit tight, and then wham, in the black. . . only now with that whole library of fully-owned shows they created.

 

[Detective Conan]

Stimulus Package Includes Billions for Struggling Theaters

Though only for small theaters.