Sly Fox wrote:There is no question that the pandemic has taken the lustre off of the cinematic experience. Most theaters are on either life support or have already closed up shop.
My question is have we seen the transition occur from big theatrical releases to the longer form streaming phenomenon into homes?
Obviously we have now been conditioned to expect content in different ways than we ever have been in the past. I am just curious to see how others feel they find themselves on the cinema to home theater scale.
The lack of content as a result of lockdowns is going to make for a frustrating 2021 at the box office even with shelved titles like Top Gun.
I made my bones in business in the cinema industry. They've been in for a reckoning due to the changing landscape for years and COVID has only accelerated it.
That being said, I'm a huge fan of a good cinema experience. I've been lucky enough to travel around the world to some of the best cinemas that exist. It's a passion of mine. I don't think it will go away, but it won't look the same.
I believe that tentpole films/blockbusters will always find a home on available big screens.
What will change is the number of showtimes available to smaller films.
The number of available screens will go down. The need for a 20 screen theater isn't going to be necessary in most towns aside from the opening weekend of an Avengers Endgame type event. What happens to that extra space?
One good thing has been the transition to digital projection in a majority of theatrical cinema venues. This allows greater flexibility in how a screen is being utilized and it makes it easier to have a one-off showing of a smaller film when needed.
Whichever exhibitors come through the other side of this will have to consider the changing model.