Yeah - not sure the $ numbers suggest a trend, but personally, I wonder about the impact of the new lounge theaters, requiring reservations.
For my wife and me (and a few others with whom we’ve discussed this), we prefer just deciding “to go to the movies.” But likely many folk have less objection to going on-line and reserving a seat.
But the theaters with recliners reduce the number of seats, and (I suppose) increase the cost of a seat - which might negatively affect attendance. I’m also not interested in buying a bunch of food at the movie - which seems to be a major function of these new set-ups. I haven’t seen any data on the $ success from expanded food and drink options.
I love going to movies, but we live near a swank theater, and the food is half the fun (they’ll bring it to you while you’re sitting in your recliner.) I’ve never had problems with noise or cell phones in Michigan (did in New Jersey. There are too many damned people in that state.) In my theater they will eject you for cell phone use.
I think there’s something to the shorter film cycle hypothesis. By the time I’m ready to see a movie that’s interested me, it’s out of theaters. And I don’t even typically watch it at home when that happens. I just never get to see it.
I think if theaters want to remain competitive they will have to adjust to the fact that America’s lifestyle has changed significantly and the typical experience just isn’t cutting it for many of them. They’re going to have to offer something better than the comfort of sitting at home with surround sound. Maybe that means more luxury theaters at economy prices. The cost of tickets at my theater is the same as any other, they just kill on concessions, including alcohol.
This is essentially what I was going to post, but you did it much better than I.
Why are movies down this year? Because it’s a down year. That’s it. It doesn’t say anything about the future of movies or RT or anything like that. It’s just a year with shitty summer movies. I venture to guess the fall/winter season will be gangbusters because it’ll have 2 summer movies (Thor and Star Wars) in it.
Part of the reason for the down summer is James Cameron’s fault. He discovered with Titanic and Avatar that the best time to release a summer movie is in the winter. Studios now seem to realize this and plan a big release to happen over the winter months to capitalize on the “It’s cold, it’s snowy, just get me inside for 2+ hours”.
The statistics are helpful for context, but I think that theaters probably have a legitimate concern that their industry is suffering. AMC is suing MoviePass in part because of that fear, and I know at least one major movie chain is about to go under. Our culture is increasingly oriented toward streaming and I wouldn’t be surprised if filmmakers tried to capitalize on that by streaming premiers outside of theaters. That would pretty much be the death blow, wouldn’t it?
Bad movies. Not just movies that are just garbage or uninspired fluff. Many movies are made with foreign audiences in mind which makes them louder and dumber (not because foreign audiences are dumb but complex dialogue and word play doesn’t translate well). Foreign audiences enjoy the movies aimed at them but American audiences are not.
Home theaters and a cultural shift away from “going out”. People watch more movies at home on their giant TVs or on their lap tops and phones. Kids don’t “go out” to the movies as much anymore or anywhere else for that matter.
The price. Movies used to be a relatively cheap day our for a family of four. Now, Two adults and two kids plus popcorn and sodas is easily a $75 outing for two hours.
Piracy. A sub category of number 2 I guess but people are stealing movies rather than paying to see them.
The last three movies I saw in the theater this year were Eraserhead, Jaws, and Suspiria. I am getting older and the first thing that went was concerts. Lately, it’s been movies. I have a 65" plasma 3-D TV, Dolby Atmos/DTS-X with ceiling speakers. It has literally become cheaper to blind buy the Blu-ray three months later than it is to go to the theater. Now, when I go, it is for the special experience. Last year I got to see 2001 A Space Odyssey in 70mm.
The theaters around here with the reclining seats are also the cheapest. No, I don’t know how they manage that, either, but they do. And you don’t have to reserve ahead unless you’re going to opening weekend of something big: If you just show up at the theater to buy your tickets, you can choose your seats then, too.
Yeah, none of the theaters here have assigned or reclining seats, so there are certainly market-dependent changes.
Even if we disagree on whether theaters have gotten better or worse, they clearly haven’t improved nearly as quickly as the home viewing experience.
There’s still something to be said for a huge screen, and for the emotional experience of seeing something in a big crowd. Just not enough to drag me out of the house very often now that the alternative is pretty darn good.