Will We Actually Stop Going to the Movies? Survey Says…
For some reason I have thought a lot about this certain subject during the pandemic. There’s really no good reason for it other than the fact I am a movie snob. Yup, we are talking about movies and the time-honored tradition of seeing a film for the first time in the theater.
Obviously, none of us have stepped foot inside a theater in months. It’s a major bummer, I know. What else bums me out is the fact that something I have been pondering over might just come to pass. Will we see the end of movie theaters thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic? I came across an article from Variety with the headline reading “Study Shows 70% of Consumers Would Rather Watch New Movies at Home.” Of course, that grabbed my attention.
The article referenced a study conducted by the analytic firms Performance Research and Full Circle Research. Yes, 70 percent of people would rather watch a newly released movie from their couch than go to the theater. 13 percent of people said they would go to the movies and 17 percent said they were unsure. Keep in mind this is how people feel right now. This could swing either way as we move further down the line of our journey back to “normalcy”.
I see both sides to this. People are concerned about not only their well-being but other people’s as well. That’s a good thing. The counter to that is we are ready to start enjoying ourselves again. One way we do that is by going to see the latest blockbuster.
I’ve talked before about how going to the theater can bring people closer together. I won’t go too deep into that again but I will say this:
For a lot of us going to the movie theater is a big part of our lives. How many first dates did you go on that involved seeing a movie? It still may be a staple for your date night. Or those times on vacation where the weather is terrible and you and the family had the best time seeing the latest Disney movie on the big screen. You look back on those times with fond memories. Yes, the movie was a small detail but it always seems to be brought up as a way to remember that particular instance.
I’m probably being a bit dramatic here but oh well. I do think that, given the current state of things and how media companies have handled it, the cat is out of the bag in regards to watching the latest film release. I mean why get out and spend more money than you need to; to see the latest super-hero movie when Disney Plus or Amazon has it ready to watch from the comfort of your own home. It totally makes sense. I think it’s something movie theaters need to take seriously if they want to stay open from here on out. Like I said, maybe a bit dramatic…
I’ll get off my pedestal now and wrap up my rant. I do hope that people will still feel comfortable going to the theater. Obviously, it’s something I’ve had (too much) time to think about…thanks, Corona. So, here’s hoping that when the next big movie premiere happens, we can all see it together on the big screen.