By Charlie Bourne.

Over the last few years, with the rise of streaming, cinema visits are becoming less frequent for many casual film lovers. The total domestic gross in the US across 2023 was at a level below that of 2002, a statistic partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also potentially as a result of a lack of interest. However, why are the problems arising?

Let’s start with the obvious reason – COVID-19. As cinemas closed at the start of 2020, many films had to be postponed to help cut the losses of the respective studios. The idea of going to the cinema became completely unrealistic and somewhat foreign. As restrictions began to ease, and going to see films became a possibility again, Christopher Nolan’s time-bending action thriller ‘Tenet” had the job of bringing back people to the cinemas. However, that didn’t exactly go to plan. Although the film made over $200 million, it was a massive flop and was divisive among critics. While the film wasn’t a complete disaster, it didn’t really do much to help attract audiences. Since COVID, although the yearly total gross has recovered slightly, it is much lower than the high of 2018. 

The next reason is also a result of COVID, but it’s worth looking at individually. It is mainly due to the rise of streaming giants, such as Netflix and Disney+. Going back 10 years or so, a film would release in cinemas, giving the general public a chance to see it on the big screen, before it came onto DVD. This transition to DVD would normally take 4-5 months, therefore emphasising the necessity of seeing it in cinema if a particular person was desperate to see it. Nowadays, films end up on streaming services after a much shorter wait (normally about 2.5 months). Alternatively, some films, such as ‘Glass Onion’ (the sequel to Knives Out) and Oscar-nominated ‘Don’t Look Up’ went straight to streaming without any cinematic run. This culture of watching films at home is taking away from the idea of going to the cinema, and therefore, less people are doing so. 

However, the main reason that people are less willing to see films in theatres is because of the lack of quality in many recent films. In 2019, Avengers: Endgame temporarily became the highest grossing movie of all time, bringing in viewers from all around the world, culminating the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, recent MCU entries have been sub-par. For example, Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania broke MCU records for all the wrong reasons, with virtually everyone criticising at least one aspect of the film. As a result, a later entry ‘The Marvels’ suffered. This was partly due to the uninteresting premise and the fact that it wasn’t very good, but the previous flops of the franchise didn’t really offer much hope. As a result, ‘The Marvels’ became the lowest grossing MCU movie, leaving the MCU a shell of its former glory. 

Elsewhere, people are frustrated by the lack of originality. Disney have announced a lot of remakes of classic movies (along with some controversial casting decisions which angered some people). However, it is not just Disney who are guilty of making remakes. A remake for the 1994 ‘The Crow’ film is coming out later this year and there have been rumours of a remake of the ‘Twilight’ film series, which only finished in 2012. Harry Potter is being remade into a TV series elsewhere, and even 2024’s most popular film, ‘Dune: Part 2’ (along with ‘Dune: Part 1’) is a remake of the 1984 Dune movie. Although Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films are brilliant, remakes are generally disappointing and just highlight the lack of innovation in the film industry at the moment. Therefore, it is no surprise that cinema visits are becoming less popular. 

Overall, it is evident that the movie industry is struggling. Although lack of cinema visits can be put down to streaming services becoming more popular caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no hiding the facts that the average quality of films has dipped in recent years. Yes, there are exceptions such as Oppenheimer, Dune: Part 2, and even the Spiderverse films, but the lack of standalone films as well the increase in remakes and reboots are ultimately harming the film industry, causing it to falter massively. Hopefully, this problem can be fixed.