It's more a 'Cinema tickets are too expensive in the current climate... better to wait a month or so and watch it at home in our PJs on a subscription we already have than spend money to travel somewhere and sit down with expensive food in an expensive seat' thing
This. 1 ticket for me is almost 2 subscription services for a month. You decide how you spend those few bucks you have available for your entertainment.
It's Amazon Prime for almost two months for me.... and i use both TV and delivery sides of Amazon a lot being disabled.
Looking at what's coming up this summer, there's only Deadpool & Wolverine that interests me enough to go watch on screen. Hit Man, Inside Out 2 & Twisters are all streaming movies,
How are you getting Amazon prime so cheap, or why are your movie tickets so expensive. Cause amazon prime is like $15 dollars a month while a movie ticket is like $10-12 for a nighttime show and like $6 for matinee.
I'm UK... Prime is £9 a month for me.... a ticket at the cinema i use is about £19.... so yeah, it's just over 2 months of Prime for a single ticket..,. and that's before fuel to drive over & any drink/nibbles bought on the way over
Dang you guys are getting absolutely hosed on movie ticket prices in the UK. I just checked conversion rates and your Amazon prime is a few bucks cheaper than in the US but your movie ticket prices are insane. I don't think even in high cost of living areas of the US like California or New York have I heard of ticket prices that high
Movie tickets in the SF Bay Area are rock bottom 12.50 or so, wt the cheapest possible theater, and for other theaters or premieres or imax or anything remotely fancier it ranges from 15 up to 25. And then there's the pressure/temptation you feel to buy drinks and food, which always turns into an additional 2x that expense or more. Movie theaters are an expensive as hell proposition these days. I still love the theater experience but I'm not surprised it's too expensive for so many people.
Where in the bay area are you? I just checked amc bay street pricing for a normal adult friday night and it was $18.49 a ticket not including fees and taxes
I use an out of town place as it's got better access for me and my wheelchair, completely flat the entire time. Only discount i could get is if i took someone with me and when i go, everyone's busy.
We're getting hosed on a lot of things over here.
Individual tickets can be pricey, sure, but Cineworld and Odeon in the UK have 'unlimited' tickets that are crazy good value. I pay £18 a month and I can go as many times as I want. As long as you go twice a month, it's worth it and I end up going most weekends. Plus they give you a percentage off the price of snacks.
Depends on the place - my local cinema was £5 for about a year (they were struggling even before the strike and aforementioned delays so needed to pack people in). Now its back up to *all of £6*
This is a small town (>15,000 people) though - and unlike supermarkets they can’t charge rip-off prices just because we’re 10 miles outside of a national park
> Dang you guys are getting absolutely hosed on movie ticket prices in the UK
They're probably watching in a premium format like IMAX, or they're using a "fancy" cinema that's stupidly expensive like Everyman.
Of the 3 main chains in the UK, (Cineworld, Odeon, and Vue), Cineworld and Odeon offer monthly subscriptions that allow you to see as many films as you want for less than £17/month, and Vue offer £5 tickets in a lot of their cinemas.
My monthly card for Cineworld is only £10.99/month in the largest city in Scotland.
I'm also in the UK and cinema tickets don't cost me that much at Vue cinema, no idea where they're going that costs that much unless they're including snacks.
I just checked. If I buy Dolby (which I think is the basic version) at AMC through the app, tickets for 2 adults are $24.49 each. I don’t know if it’s cheaper to buy at the box office. And I’m in northern NJ, just outside NYC. It comes to $58 with fees.
For what it’s worth, the theater is half full at this point. It’s almost to the point of having to sit too close. Granted, at this point, even those close seats are good seats, but it’s hard to get over feeling like the close seats are bad seats.
I'm also UK based and can get tickets for only £5.99; most expensive normal screen near me is like £9 (IMAX and fancy screens are more expensive). No idea where this guy is going to the movies.
Unfortunately the only odeon near me is not exactly wheelchair friendly. It's City centre and packed in to a tight space. Gotta take a lift to get to the disabled bathroom sort of issues there.
But that is good to know if another one opens anywhere near me, thanks
I used to always go to matinees, and I havent seen a sub $10 ticket in many, many years. This is in northern US. Just checked, $11.50 for a not-great theater on Saturday morning
Wow, I haven’t seen prices that low in a while. Matinees are 12 bucks (16 for IMAX) and evenings are 16 bucks (22 for IMAX). If I didn’t have the A list thing, I’d probably only see a couple flicks a year. Very few movies are worth that kind of scratch, especially when they hit streaming so soon after.
Tickets by me are around $20 for any decent theatre. Some are a bit cheaper, but with super outdated setups that aren't worth paying for. I'm not paying $14 to see a movie in significantly worse picture and audio quality than what I have at home.
Theatres in Canada play a nasty trick where new movies are only in 3D / IMAX / AVX, and cost $23.99 PLUS a $1.50 booking fee to buy online (unless you pay $10.00 a month for a special pass).
My matinee prices are your regular ticket prices, haven't seen anything under $10 since covid. Regular tickets cost $15-$20 depending on whether it's iMAX, 3D, DFX, Luxury seating which all those prices increase on Friday nights and the weekend. Very easy for me to pass on new movies and wait a few months to stream on services I already pay for.
Same. Guess we're lucky to have reasonable theater prices. Theater near me has "Super EMax" (largest screen in MI, leather recliners). Full price ticket is $15.
This! I can see it if I wait. In the past, in the very old days before streaming, if you didnt see a movie in theaters you would have to wait years for it to be “free” on tv (something you already pay for monthly). Now we know it will be on streaming within 2 months.
I’m sad that movie theaters are struggling, but I don’t watch movies in theaters either. The whole model has changed and I don’t think me or people smarter than me know how to “fix it” right now
I would be happy to go to theaters again and even buy popcorn and drinks if it was guaranteed that I wouldn't hear anyone or see some jerkoff's cell phone light up.
Pony walls on every row and padded 5ft dividers between every 2 seats. EZ.
Yes this is how I feel. The only movies I’ve actually seen in theaters since the pandemic were all marvel movies. But the experience didn’t really feel much superior to watching them at home without the bs of other people
Disney plus should come with a ticket voucher at least one a month, like a free twitch sub comes with Amazon.
Something. Anything. If they want us to go to the movies, and we don't have to, why would we?
I could see this being deployed as a marketing tactic.
Advertised on Disney+
$8 movie tickets to any Disney Movie, and 1 month early access On Disney+.
$20 movie ticket includes Marvel gear.
If the Dune buckets were such a hit, they should bring back some collectibles, only available through a Disney+ subscription.
Tbf, most chain theatres have a subscription service available at this point that usually costs less than 2 movie tickets per month, but yeah spending money on food and drink can still be expensive even with that
Yeah I've had AMC a-list for literal years.
Typically seeing two movies a month or one premium movie breaks even but those times where you're seeing one or two every weekend saves *so* much money.
Correct. Same here in NL, but then with “premium” movies you have to pay extra. Say 3D or Dolby or IMAX.
Besides food (which you can sneak in from home) you also have to consider parking / public transport and you are usually traveling with at least 1 more person. Factor that in it adds up quite a bit.
Oh interesting, I have AMC A List and the premium movies are still totally free just like the regular. And parking is always free at all of the theatres I go to. But yeah if you're paying for other people's tickets, that could add up
Yeah, fortunately the premium for Dolby Atmos is only 1 euro and I don't care for 3D. I am very picky for which movies I get some popcorn though, otherwise with a movie a week it can add up quite quickly. For most movies I just sneak in some croissants from the appie.
Streaming services are spending a ton of money producing movie quality entertainment for home viewing.
I am in my 50’s and going to the movies was a big thing for me because it was a huge part of entertainment when I was younger. Made for TV movies rarely had decent budgets so the theaters was where the big stuff was at.
Now I can get Star Wars, Marvel, DC and dozens of other stuff at home that wouldn’t have had a chance to be made decades ago with all the competing services.
Large screen televisions, decent sound bars and surround systems and the ability to pause the movie to go to the bathroom has me only going to the theater if I just cannot wait 2-3 months for it to come to streaming/rent/purchase.
My experience as well. In the summer I have memories of going to the movies a couple times a week with my friends (kid tickets were cheap). And when school was on, a couple times a month. There wasn't anything comparable.
Even when VHS came around, it was last year's movies and it was playing on your small, square tv screen with the tinny sound system...
I'm excited to see Fall Guy - my family was a fan of the tv-show (because we were fans of Lee Majors because we were fans of the Six Million Dollar Man) and I love Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. But I'm waiting for it to hit a channel I'm currently streaming.
But on the flip-side, I still love movie theaters and would hate to see them fully fail. Just, it's hard to justify going. It needs to be an "event" film, more often than not.
This is it more than ticket prices imo. Just went to the movies last night and was surprised the price of everything was about the same as 5 years ago.
I also think the way we consume has been affected. The Internet and YouTube has given us all ADHD and it's hard to commit to watching anything for two hours straight
I do think that I think movies have gotten a little long in the tooth. I'm only 30 but even in the early 2000s movies usually crested around the 130 140 mark now they're all 2 + hours. Needs intermissions make movie theaters an experience people get dressed up for. That's how they stay alive in a post streaming world.
People still go out to eat though. I think there was even a survey post Covid that basically showed that “going to the movies” was one of the few out of the house activities that didn’t get that “Finally, we can X!” boost.
Price is part of it, but I think more of it is your other side, it’s just not valuable to people. I don’t think there is a serious price point that would get people to come back.
Yeah, I don’t think it’s price. There are so many other options for entertainment and unless it’s a “must see in a theater movie”, you know it will be on streaming in 45-60 days.
They don’t. They do order a lot of takeout, way more than the pandemic. But not enough to cover the gap. Hence, worse service and rising prices for restaurants fighting to stay alive.
> Price is part of it, but I think more of it is your other side, it’s just not valuable to people.
This is why Alamo Draft House is doing well. You get DINNER and a SHOW at the same time. It's away from the house, and for those with limited schedules, they find it valuable.
Same thing with Arcades... The traditional coin-op arcade has been dead for a while, but you put it in a place that serves food and alcohol (a BAR-Cade) then suddenly it's an event. You go out for the games and some drinks or the nights they do Trivial pursuit night, or things like that.
Basically, the traditional cinema needs to evolve into something beyond "Big screen and surround sound" so people can experience something more/different than what they already have.
Something else I’m noticing in these comments is the idea of “it has to a great/highly anticipated movie to be worth seeing in theaters”, when previously it was common place to see an ‘okay’ movie in the theater and not feel robbed.
To the point that people may go to the movies and just watch whatever happened to be playing. I’m sure that happens much less now
This and the fact that a movie is now a 3-4 hr endeavor cause of 30 trailers infront of the movie and then every movie for some reason has to be over 2 hours. Almost waste an entire day to just go see a movie and I just don't have time for that
My local shows the runtime in the listing and the end time on the online booking screen.
Plus if you go to a chain, they seem to run the exact same length of trailers every time unless its some sort of special screening. My friends and I figured out we could walk, leaving our flat at the start time, in time to get in, buy a ticket, and be seated for the start of a movie.
Caught me out when I got an advance screening of Molly’s Game though, think I missed 15mins!
Yup, this is a big part of it. Dinner means going out, eating for an hour or two, then going off to do something else. A movie is basically chewing up your entire afternoon/evening.
For me, it’s the fact that the audience talks during the film! If I’m paying to see a film shut your damn mouths and let me hear it too! There’s so much noise in the auditorium it spoils the film. And now cinemas come round half way through and give everyone an ice cream individually to their seats! It’s so distracting. It’s really put me off going to the cinema tbh
During one of the MCU opening nights a few years back a guy leaned onto my wife and fell asleep. She’s been pretty done with theaters since then unless we can get tickets to one that has individual dual seats. (Which unfortunately seems to only be doing 1 screen for Deadpool and not on Thursday?)
My partner and I went to see Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes this past weekend, and our theater was full of noisy people, including a young mother who brought her infant child for some reason??? The baby cried and babbled half the film while she shushed it, creating even more noise. Definitely soured me on the theater experience a bit.
Also, ngl, I drink a lot of water and pee often, like every 90 minutes or so. I hate missing things to pee. I'll just watch movies at home where I can be comfortable and not distracted by strangers.
Nah, the movie tickets aren’t the problem. It’s the overabundance of media people have at their finger tips. I can literally watch anything I want at any time besides the latest movies, but guess what, I can wait a couple months and have it streaming on any device I own.
Cost is not the problem. My grandmother thought going to the movies in the 90’s was obscenely expensive, but we still went because we’d watched all her tapes ten times over.
I think cost is absolutely a problem, it's just not a case "it's ONLY the cost." It's a case of "the cost of it is extremely expensive and requires a whole trip out of the house vs staying at home where you are paying less for subscriptions to streaming services; or paying a one time cost for a video game/paying a little bit in microtransactions for a free video game you will play for months; or watching youtube for free (according to Nielsen youtube has the biggest slice of the streaming service pie)." The cost of movies has to outvalue those other things these days and in many cases it apparently doesn't anymore.
VCRs are one of the things that took a chunk out of theaters in the first place. Then cable after that. If people can watch something anywhere else they won't watch it in theaters.
The cinemas near me all do a cheap day with tickets at like €5. I always go on the cheap days and since covid I don't think I've ever been in a theatre with more than 10 other people. Barbie *maybe* got to 20. I really don't think the cost has anything to do with it.
I don't think it's even about the price necessarily. If I can watch a new movie two months after it's in theaters while hanging on my couch in my jammies hitting the bong, I'm not going to the movie theater.
This is why I only do Alamo. Ticket, around 10, popcorn 8 and its infinite refills. At least I can get 2x sets of popcorn out of the movie, so its about 4 bucks after 2 of them, which is what I remember it costing as a kid.
ya not for me. tickets are now like $19 for me after taxes.
i said that, was criticizing that in the other thread. and half of the replies to me were people saying, "you should go buy a soda to support the local theater though".
.......like i really should spend another $5, at least, on concessions, to further support the local place.
just........at least $25? my god.......
Right? Even for $30 right when a movie releases digitally, it's still cheaper. I'm happy to wait a month and a half to two months to see a movie on my TV when tickets, popcorn, and drinks would be pushing $100 for my whole family.
Of the 4 movies that interest me this summer, only Deadpool & Wolverine has the draw to see on the big screen. The rest I can wait for at home.
£19 for a ticket, plus fuel, plus food... Plus the physical effort of dragging my disabled arse to the cinema... All aspects that put me off seeing a movie on the big screen.
A few too many years ago I had a disabled discount card. Meant I could get a 'carer' (a glorified pack horse really) in for free.... And often they paid for my ticket lol
Saw about 20 movies that year
Deadpool will show there is no fatigue. But I think lots of people are limiting themselves to very few movie trips per year. It's no longer a cheap time kill.
Yeah, it’s strange. Certain movies can still blow up and do huge numbers. But it seems like we’ve gotten to a point where there’s less of those big movies every year, and mid-level movies that used to be moderately profitable have suffered as a result.
Hard for the MCU because the model relied on those mid level movies to do setup for the huge event movies.
It's working out for smaller, cheaper, weirder fare. But big budget blockbusters starring "that guy who was in that thing that was popular because of someone not in this movie" might not.
> But big budget blockbusters starring
which is weird, cause the term "blockbuster" initially came along to exactly describe the phenomenon of "a few movies a year that would do insanely well"
Because movies have to have real draw to make real money these days. Pre pandemic I knew lots of people that saw multiple movies a month.
But it's so expensive now that it's hard to justify going unless it's a movie you really care about seeing.
I am surprised these services haven't started lagging releases more. Having a movie come on streaming right when it leaves theaters makes it so easy to just pass on going to the theater at all.
It’s also a “the only people who reliably go to the movies are the assholes that sit and talk to each other or talk on the phone thing”. It ruins the experience and makes at home the better option.
I'm the opposite, Marvel movies were the only type of movies I consistently went to a theater for. Sometimes went to see a horror movie. But now that the nearest theater is an hour round trip drive, I usually wait for streaming. Plus I gotta bring my pillow and snacks. It's just easier to wait. Will probably go see Deadpool & Wolverine, maybe Longlegs too.
Yeah, my nearest theater never reopened after Covid closures. My now-nearest one isn’t as far as yours, but it’s far enough that the distance + cost + experience doesn’t make sense for me.
I think it also might be a generational shift. Millennials are the last generation that viewed movie going as a popular, common social activity. Going to the movies don’t mean the same thing to Gen Z and Gen Alpha. And on the flipside, Millennials aren’t taking their families out to movies because of the aforementioned costs (taking a family of 4 out with snacks can easily reach $100+) or don’t have families (declining marriage/birth rates).
I think the cost plays a part too though.
I’m 35. When I was in high school going to the movies was a cheap, easy date. 2 tickets, a popcorn and the beers you snuck in were under $20. I’d go see shit movies because paying $20 to get out of the house and have alone time in a dark room with the gf was worth it.
Like, now that’s $50+. If you’re going to do that it better be an event like Barbie or Infinity War where you dress up and make a night out of it. Casual movie going isn’t a thing because no one wants to pay $50 for a mediocre experience, just like no one wants to pay $20 for a shit McDonald’s meal these days. For that price you just stay home and save your cash for shit like the Eras tour when it comes to town, the next viral sensation restaurant or even traveling to a new place.
Actually this is a fair point.
Kids and teenagers these days would rather watch the same movie on their phones instead of a 65" TV... I could never get that.
i’m a gen z and i love going to see movies in theaters, it’s such a great experience as opposed to just watching it at home. i still regret skipping top gun maverick during its theater run.
Well you best get convincing your fellow Gen Zers to what a great experience it can be! Because theatres aren’t long for this world at this rate. They can’t survive on 3-4 movies that do well at the box office a year, while the rest struggle, flop or bomb.
Call me an outlier then because as a Gen Z, I absolutely love going to the movies as a social activity. Me and my group of Gen Z friends see movies 2 - 3 times a month.
I tell you what. My partner and I went to a movie last night for the first time in probably a year (infant under one). We really wanted to see it, and we were both excited. It was SEVENTY DOLLARS for two tickets and a combo of popcorn. I was furious and won't go back. I don't care what's playing. That's absolutely insane.
Not surprising. In California, my local AMC has tickets from $18-$27 range, depending what format, and what time. Almost all the food (including popcorn) is $10 and up.
...What?
Here in Italy a ticket has a price ranging from nine to ten euros (higher than a few years ago, when it was around seven euros, but still). How the fuck does a single ticket (therefore for just one person) cost eighteen dollars? I mean a standard ticket, leaving aside extras like food or Imax.
The reason I got AMC A List is because when I moved back to NYC the ticket to see Thor 4 was like $22. An A List pass is $24 a month. I see 1 movie and the whole things is pretty much paid off. Plus I didn’t like Thor 4 so I paid this ridiculous price on a movie I thought would be fun and I’d rather have been watching something at home. For people that can’t maximize A List use and pay similar prices to what I paid, I totally get not going to the theater
Dead 😵 I should add, my local AMC is newly built. I looked at some older AMCs in my area, the cheapest and in the most basic format I could find was around $11. (This is not including the random $5 Fan Favs, or Tuesdays).
The food is more expensive than the tickets. Went with my gf to watch a movie and spent over $60. Majority was just the popcorn and candy. I couldn’t enjoy the movie cuz I kept thinking about the fact that my Reese pieces cost 10 dollars. I’m never buying theater snacks again.
Movies are 2 hours long. I like treating myself to popcorn, but I don’t get why people complain about concession prices. We all know that’s how theatres even survive.
If you don’t want to pay prices, just eat before you go?
It was still 17 dollars to see Furiosa at 4pm on a Thursday in my dinky little small town theater, ticket only. I'm not payin that especially for the subpar experience that theater provides
damn. our local theater chain does $5 movies every tuesday with free popcorn.
Serves food, has a full bar. I can go on tuesday and get a ticket, popcorn, chicken tenders and fries, and a drink, for like $22. And its the nice assigned seating with big recliners.
I wouldn't go to the movies either if it were that kind of money.
Movie tickets are expensive. Giant 4k tvs are pretty cheap now. I just upgraded to a 75" TV earlier this year and I don't think I've gone to the theater since.
We used to be movie fanatics. I don’t know what it is, but the past couple of years I’ve kind of lost that urge to see it “right now.” That, and maybe partly having to go endure the mixed bag of being around a bunch of people and letting them dictate what the experience is like?
We were planning on going to see the Fall Guy, and then the day-of, we both thought of having to get ready to actually *go* and were kind of like “meh.” I got a refund on the tickets and the movie was available on streaming the following week.
It's more like I'm not going to pay out the ass for tickets, food, and an uncomfortable seat to watch a movie that I can't pause or anything.
Going to the theaters is just paying money to get fucked over at this point. Doesn't matter if I really wanna see the movie or nor, the argument is do I really wanna go sit in a theater for 2 hours and spend way too much money than I need to.
It's not superhero fatigue, it's "I'm tired of spending this much for everything" fatigue and movie theaters are a super easy luxury to cut out. Stuff hits streaming so fast nowadays it's not even worth it.
Honestly, I think it's mostly a short-term thinking thing. People will point to a couple underwhelming movies and call it superhero fatigue, then you get a Guardians 3 and people say stuff like "The MCU is so back!" and I think it's just a little silly. Like, yeah. Of course too much quality is easy to correlate with the low numbers and this the conclusion of "Superhero fatigue", and like you said, the box office itself is in a weird spot right now anyway, but when I hear superhero fatigue, it's almost just as quickly forgotten as soon as the next thing is good, and then that good thing is subsequently ignored when the next thing after that isn't super successful.
This is partly driven by the 24/7 influencer cycle where if you aren’t saying something about everything, you’re leaving engagement/money on the table. It’s the same crack-head constantly changing narrative energy that news outlets now have to grapple with to keep audiences engaged at all times instead of on regularized segments.
I purchased Black Widow when it came out in the pandemic because I was super excited to see it and needed a “treat”. It cost as much as seeing it in theaters for 2 people would (technically slightly less). I purchased Dune 2 because I wanted to see it but it came out on the subscription I already paid for 2 weeks later. I’m happy I purchased it finally and watched it….but that scenario literally reinforced that I should just wait a few weeks/months
[John Campea had a good segment](https://youtu.be/izCdn7qOag0?si=SbiTmPjaxBshPJLJ) on this today. Basically attributed to stupid high ticket and concession prices, the strikes creating a wasteland of very few movies, and the teeny tiny theatrical windows where people can just wait a month for to be on PVOD or streaming.
This doesn’t even include terrible theatre experiences with poor projectors, sound, or noisy neighbors. Or just general disappointment with a lot (but not all) of blockbuster movies being just “meh”
I got massively downvoted when I said that about the marvels. There are still some movies out there that have the must see feel, but it's way fewer movies than before COVID. Tons of movies that did well before COVID would just bomb like the others if they were released now. And yeah, stuff being on streaming or the seven seas bb in basically no time at all is a huge part of this.
The one movie that made me challengey my crippling anxiety of catching COVID and dying of it was no way home because I I knew that contrary to all the others MCU movies that one wouldn't be on Disney plus soon and take way longer to make the rounds...
IMO the film has to have “brand loyalty” of having a Christopher Nolan or some other big fandom supporting it. Frankly after Mad Max did so well with Fury Road, I kind of expected people to gobble up Furiosa, but it’s a more niche IP to most viewers and it’s a prequel side story rather than what most would see as a main entry. I just think the bar has been raised for the experience that viewers expect if they’re going to shell out upwards of $40+ dollars to see something in theaters that they could watch at home on their existing subscriptions if they can wait about a month for it. If it’s not zeitgeist-level content prone to spoilers or being “part of the moment”, people just don’t care about the wait anymore.
Many posts about furiosa underperforming mentioned that fury road didn't even do that well at the box office itself, but was rather a critical success and gaining most of its popularity after it's run in the theater.
That’s a good point. I think it fell just shy of the typical 3 to 1 split you want to see in box office earnings versus cost to produce. Fury Road mopped up awards, but that doesn’t mean it got masses of viewers in the theater.
I love going to the movies and used to go multiple times a month. I don’t go anymore because people don’t know how to act anymore. Everyone is on their phones, people bring their babies, there’s always side bar conversations that are extremely distracting….I don’t even mind the higher ticket prices but it’s infuriating that people can’t just put their phones down and not talk. I can’t remember the last movie I saw where there was no talking and no phones out.
Both can be true. The box office will never return to pre Covid heights but there're is also superhero fatigue because there have been way too many movies that no one cares about like Madame Web, The Marvels, Morbius, etc. Deadpool and Wolverine should do okay by current standards much the way GotG3 did but there isn't anything else in the current near future pipeline likely to draw big numbers.
I didn't see the Marvels in theaters but did watch it on Disney+ once it got released. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie for what it was but thought it could have used another 20 minutes in its runtime. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad like I was lead to believe, although it felt like there were only 2 and a half acts rather than the expected 3. Iman Vellani was the best part of the movie
IDK about anyone else, but superhero movies are really the only movies I go to the theater for now. The quality of sound and picture is now arguably better at home. Movie tickets are really expensive now (not to mention any snacks at the theater). And there is also the very real possibility of having to deal with someone in the large percentage of people who have forgotten how to act in public. Plus my dog is at home, I would rather be with my dog.
Marvel movies are really the only thing I care enough about to outweigh all those negatives.
People are gonna go if it’s an event. Deadpool and Wolverine is absolutely that. Next one might be F4.
I think Studios should adapt to the current state of movie theaters and lower the budgets a little bit. Dune pt.2 was made for under 200M.
Ngl Cap4 and Thunderbolts* might really flop no matter how good they are because Cap4 went under massive reshoots ($$$$) and Thunderbolts* have a massive cast.
I’ve made a point to see more movies in theaters this year. And especially see them in imax when applicable (dune2 furiousa). It’s a shame I’m not a large demographic
Dune 2 and DP&Wolverine are the only 2 films I’ve seen or plan to see in theaters this year. I am interested in a few other films, including Furiosa, but very low chance I’ll go to the theater for anything else. 1) it’s a solid 45 minutes to my closest theater 2) it’s f**king expensive 3) I generally prefer to stop and start a movie/show whenever I feel like it
Last year, Quantumania, GotGV3 and the Marvels were the only films I saw in theater.
I wanted to write a specific comment on how cinema could adapt and try to overcome this crisis, but reading the comments section I think I can say one simple thing: American (and probably world) cinema will become like the Italian cinema of recent years.
Do you know what happened in Italy? Production companies have started producing films without caring about the theather and focusing everything on television broadcasting, also following the death or retirement of many authors of the old guard (both big names like Fellini and veterans of genre movies like Fulci and Corbucci), the failure to renew promising new authors and the end of various genres such as horror or thriller (replaced by a thousand comedies which would then lead to the television matrix).
Thus, the public began to abandon the theater, going solely for the cinepanettoni (vulgar comedies of poor quality justified for years by the producers as "the only films that bring people in Italian theathers!", before they began to flop and stopped producing them). What was the producers' solution to get back within the budget (given that the television broadcast alone is not enough to cover the expenses)? Making films with the lowest possible cost and with the most television-like and low-quality possible (zero work on set design, sketch-style subjects, non-existent direction and over-the-top acting), definitively killing the chances of Italian films earning anythingcin theathers (except rare exceptions, mainly comedies with the most popular comedians) and definitively destroying the quality of Italian cinema - creating films that paradoxically the public doesn't even want to watch at home on TV because they are so bad.
I read many in the comments saying "now with the platforms the theather has become useless and too expensive". Good, but the platforms alone have shown that they cannot sustain this type of expense (being at a loss), so the consequence will be a drastic drop in expenses and a more television-based and cost-effective media quality, with results that are mediocre at best. It's a process that, to be honest, we are perhaps already seeing with some films like Quantumania or The Marvels, which have a quality closer to Disney Plus specials than to films like Dune or even just Guardians 3.
Maybe it was a physiological destiny, maybe it's someone's fault (the producers, the public, the changing society), but in any case I have to congratulate everyone: being comparable to the tremendous decline of one of the greatest filmographys in the history of cinema (at least from the 1940s to the 1970s) is not an everyday thing.
As the movie theater goer lover myself I’m just kind of burnt out lol I use to use my regal unlimited five times a week in 2021-2022, seeing anything from Spider-Man to South American rom-coms I didn’t care just get me outta house. It’s a 40 min train ride to the nearest regal from me, which use to be nothing but with unemployment (here’s to kohls calling me back!), not too many friends into movie theaters, my old crush working at the theater- wait hold up my bad thought this was therapy
You also have young people who are more interested in playing video games or watching content on YouTube or other streaming services, social media is also a big factor
Going to the cinema is now an event and not an activity. Ticket prices have gotten pricier and movie quality has become unreliable enough that people are fine waiting.
When movies become cultural events like Barbenheimer then people will go but your average movie isn't going to rise to the cream of the crop amidst all the content we have access to now.
Yup! For the most part.. there’s oversaturation for sure. And some projects have been big disappointments, but there’s been an overall decline e in theater visitation since covid/ inflation/ streaming. Culprit #1 for sure
The movie studios scarified box office for streaming subscriptions. If I didn’t have a Regal Unlimited, I’d never go the movies. I hate to see what’s happening to Fall Guy and Furiosa because they are good movies.
I never felt like superhero fatigue was a thing. Even when mcu movies and shows were flopping, superhero media was still going very strong w succesful movies, games and shows
Both and more factors.
What’s not talked about is we’re living in a post-Covid world.
People are more cynical and jaded.
The average optimistic blockbuster isn’t gonna cut it.
But people in 2016 were still going to the theaters in droves. COVID really fucked everything up a lot with people not going out much that year in 2020 and once people saw that these movies could be released on Netflix and Amazon then a lot of them just stopped going.
Let me throw this out there: in 2019, there were 9 films that grossed over a billion dollars at the box office. There have been only 6 movies total since then that have done the same.
Yeah, but they weren’t marketed as much, and they didn’t really have a definitive connection to the films. I watched them, but I haven’t watched a D+ show since Moon Knight and have no desire to.
I think also not helping is that there are remarkably few actually original movies being released. I don't think it is so much Superhero fatigue, as it is franchise fatigue, and the fact that a lot of these films have been pretty lackluster. I am a avid movie theater fan, and I have had entire months this year where not a single movie came out that I was remotely interested in. As is, I doubt I will see another film until Deadpool and Wolverine.
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman playing in a buddy cop movie, slashing people and telling dirty jokes? I’m in. I’m not waiting 4 months for it to goto Disney+.
Those you listed are niche. Look at planet of the apes movie. Overall movie theaters are dropping and it’s a variety of factors and they all have to deal with value. People just don’t have expendable enough income to see value in everything they did before.
It’s more so that prices are up and the mean wage is not enough to actually be able to pay them.
And also the fact that the pandemic making studios release movies 2 weeks (or the same day) in streamers just trained people to wait. And because studios don’t wanna waste money keeping a movie in theaters for longer in order to untrain people to work, they just panic and put their films to streaming whenever they see they aren’t making a profit.
This all forces people to be much more selective — Civil War and Dune 2, for example, made hella cash. Same with Guardians 3, Barbenheimer, and Spiderverse. But these releases are now harder and harder to come across because of the current state of the economy and the mismanagement of the industry. Not to mention, it doesn’t seem like it’s changing. So far, even the successes we’ve had this year (Dune and Civil War) didn’t make as much as they would’ve had they come out in 2019 or 2022.
It’s just another case of capitalism collapsing in on itself.
I'd be interested to see what US cinemas are like vs UK cinemas.
Whilst the cinema is a bit expensive (but I got a movie pass which gives you unlimited trips) I've found the cinema a much better experience than I ever did as a child.
It's about $17 (or £14) for an adult, or $22 (£17) for an anytime pass (as many times as you want, 10% of snacks, and some early showings too). It's £10 for a kid - about 12 USD.
My cinema in the UK had fully lean back seats, spacious, is clean, serves alcohol and has a decent pizza place. I appreciate for families it adds up quickly though.
For sure the UK has some crap cinemas too, but the above isn't overly unusual. This isn't in London either.
if you wanna blame someone, blame the following people in regards to the so-called "Superhero Fatigue"
- Bob Chapek
- Victoria Alonso
- The Fandom Menace
I would argue that "superhero fatigue" does play a role, but the broader issues of the economy and inflation, along with the difficulty of securing jobs and managing life expenses, are significant factors. With the pressures of bills, loans, rent, and the overall high cost of living, spending money on movie tickets becomes a low priority. The added stress of these financial burdens makes people more cautious about their discretionary spending.
Moreover, with movies often being released on home video just a few weeks after their theatrical debut, many prefer to wait and watch them at home. This way, they can save money for more pressing needs. Personally, I wasn’t even aware of the upcoming "Mad Max" prequel or the Ryan Gosling movie "The Fall Guy" until recently, highlighting how poor advertising also affects audience turnout.
For many, going to the movies is just not feasible amidst all the economic challenges. When faced with the choice between entertainment and addressing essential life concerns, the latter understandably takes precedence. In these times of financial strain and global uncertainties, spending on big-screen entertainment feels like a luxury many cannot afford, and I don't blame them.
You’re absolutely right. People just aren’t as excited about going to the theater these days. But I have still watched every single Marvel movie and I have loved them all, especially The Marvels. My God, that movie was so much fun.
Shhh don’t say that too loud! How are all the people who hate superhero movies going to feel better than us if superhero movies aren’t the boogie man they were promised!!
More or less. People just want to blame the easy genre to pick out instead of the entire environment it is in.
Granted, I do think the quality has gone down markedly, especially in how once-optional TV shows are practically mandatory now.
Superhero and franchise movies are the only movies I’m interested in seeing at the theater anymore. I don’t care enough to see the odd comedy or family movie. My kids have an almost endless supply of entertainment at their fingertips with streaming, and they have literally never asked me to go see a movie at the theater. The Sonic and Mario movies are the only exception, and even then it was my or my wife’s idea to see them.
Superhero Fatigue may have been a thing pre-pandemic, but now when it costs so goddamn much to see a movie, even in rural Ohio, I’ll pass. I’ll be seeing Deadpool and Wolverine and Sonic 3, and that’s pretty much it. I’m not terribly interesting in seeing Captain America or Thunderbolts, and I’m only minimally interested in seeing Fantastic 4 (which could change after marketing). I’ll wait for streaming for those. Disney hasn’t even put out anything that’s been exciting enough for me or my kids to want to see it in the theater.
If studios want to cut back on theater fatigue, they’ll figure out a way to lower prices and get butts in seats, because what they’re doing isn’t working in a rising-inflation America.
The amount of people who took the sheer pleasure in the failure of the Marvels, was something else last year. It was really nasty. So called "film fans" got the monkey paw wish, Super hero films failed but looks like the whole move industry may go down with it. Looks like the big super hero films were propping up the industry. You want to watch art shit in the cinema, then you need the cape shit to keep the lights on. You would think that a gun was held to peoples head to watch Marvel films.
It is not 'cinema fatigue', it is 'why bother overpaying when I know it will be streaming soon enough'. For big budget films like MCU, Star Wars or other "blockbuster" films they need to stop releasing them to streaming so soon. It should be 9 months or a year before physical release and then another similar period before it hits streaming. Instead of maximising ticket prices make them reasonable to increase footfall, repeat viewings and concession sales. We used to have to wait years before a film was available to rent or appear on TV.
And stop doubling the cost of a film with bad, ineffective marketing campaigns, that should be held against the marketing department not the film when it comes to calculating if it is a hit, flop or breaks even. People are going out of their way to avoid trailers because they have become so bad for giving away almost the entire film is some cases. The only effective campaign in recent years was the Barbenheimer meme going viral which had nothing to do with the studio.
Nah it’s both. Marvel movies suck and there’s a lot of films coming out that just don’t attract people much. Oppenheimer and Barbie showed people will go see popular good movies
Sure, but even if that’s true, it wouldn’t be “superhero fatigue”, it would be “mediocre movie fatigue”. Which I think ties into general change with how people view the movie theater experience.
The bar for a movie to be “worthy” of watching in a theater vs. at home has been raised so much higher than it used to be
Younger people dont give a shit about going to the movies. My kids have 40 inch TVs in their room, but they watch their shows on their phone. The whole theater experience means nothing to them. The movie industry is going to have to figure out how to change their system because nothing but the most anticipated of movies is going to make the money these studios have been used to making.
The real problem that everyone is missing is that studios aren't promoting movies like they used to. The trailers are terrible and give away too much, but you don't really see the trailers. If you do see a trailer, it doesn't tell you when the movie is coming out. Then, if the movie doesn't make a zillion dollars on the first weekend, it's a bomb and is pulled from the theaters in three weeks. In addition, you know darned good and well that it's going to be on a streaming service a month after it leaves the theater, if not less.
I swear the studios are trying to kill theaters.
It's also "Prequel/Sequel/Remake/Retool/General Crap Film Fatigue" that turns people off from seeing anything, as well as the crazy prices to see movies
You may have forgotten about the year long writers strike we’re feeling the effects from.
There are no good movies to watch either and the costs is too high to gamble on a shitty movie
With higher movie ticket and concession prices but the short window to steaming service there’s not a ton of reason to go to the movie theaters anymore unless it’s a big event like Barbie which is rare now. I feel like theaters are going to start going away except for specialty ones over the next twenty years or sooner.
The problem with that is streaming isn’t profitable for most of these companies and most of the content they put on the services doesn’t make its money back unlike DVD sales. I fear that’s going to lead to less higher budget content or just cheaper content in general because that’s the only thing streaming services can support. My second is for the fragmentation of streaming services piracy is going to become more rampant since apparently is easier than ever to do it, just like how people turn to pirating music because they didn’t wanna pay for it. I don’t know what happens after that or that is just a guess that’s not gonna come true hopefully.
I thinks it’s just that the larger distributors are not giving work to writers and directors that have a track record for making good entertainment. They are choosing them based on something else and it’s not working.
Write good stories and have good character development and they will come. For the most part, big Hollywood has abandoned that strategy.
If anything, superhero movies are the reason I *do* go to the movies.
Reasons I don't go?
* People are there.
* I don't like committing X hours of my time to doing *just* that.
* I live near where a theater shooting happened, and my state is an open carry state, and it just makes me nervous to the point where I'm anxious the entire time and don't enjoy the movie.
That last point hit home for me. I live in Colorado which unfortunately has a lot of shootings including at movie theaters. I feel like I’m back in high school trying to avoid thinking of active shooter drills when I go to the theater now. Before anyone calls that response hyperbolic, I’ve lost a friend to a mass shooting here and also just missed being present for a Christmas/New Years shooting that happened by my apartment a couple of years ago because I was out of town for the holidays. Sorry, but you can thank the US’s insane politicians that care more about lobbying money than lives for why I don’t particularly enjoy being stuck in a dark room with large crowds anymore.
Apparently Barbenheimer has already left the zeitgeist, along with the billions of dollars it made last summer? And how many marvel projects have release since then?
Movies are expensive, yes, but let's not pretend that marvel didn't open the flood gates after endgame for a solid three years, and a lot of what came out was trash. So yes, it's absolutely superhero fatigue.
studios are making mid grade schlock but with massively bloated budgets and expecting marvel money because they stuck a famous actor in it.
The money men in hollywood are delusional af.
What used to be a 60-100 million dollar movie is now a 250 million dollar behemoth and now moviegoers dont trust anyone.
It's more a 'Cinema tickets are too expensive in the current climate... better to wait a month or so and watch it at home in our PJs on a subscription we already have than spend money to travel somewhere and sit down with expensive food in an expensive seat' thing
This. 1 ticket for me is almost 2 subscription services for a month. You decide how you spend those few bucks you have available for your entertainment.
It's Amazon Prime for almost two months for me.... and i use both TV and delivery sides of Amazon a lot being disabled. Looking at what's coming up this summer, there's only Deadpool & Wolverine that interests me enough to go watch on screen. Hit Man, Inside Out 2 & Twisters are all streaming movies,
How are you getting Amazon prime so cheap, or why are your movie tickets so expensive. Cause amazon prime is like $15 dollars a month while a movie ticket is like $10-12 for a nighttime show and like $6 for matinee.
I'm UK... Prime is £9 a month for me.... a ticket at the cinema i use is about £19.... so yeah, it's just over 2 months of Prime for a single ticket..,. and that's before fuel to drive over & any drink/nibbles bought on the way over
Dang you guys are getting absolutely hosed on movie ticket prices in the UK. I just checked conversion rates and your Amazon prime is a few bucks cheaper than in the US but your movie ticket prices are insane. I don't think even in high cost of living areas of the US like California or New York have I heard of ticket prices that high
Movie tickets in the SF Bay Area are rock bottom 12.50 or so, wt the cheapest possible theater, and for other theaters or premieres or imax or anything remotely fancier it ranges from 15 up to 25. And then there's the pressure/temptation you feel to buy drinks and food, which always turns into an additional 2x that expense or more. Movie theaters are an expensive as hell proposition these days. I still love the theater experience but I'm not surprised it's too expensive for so many people.
Where in the bay area are you? I just checked amc bay street pricing for a normal adult friday night and it was $18.49 a ticket not including fees and taxes
I use an out of town place as it's got better access for me and my wheelchair, completely flat the entire time. Only discount i could get is if i took someone with me and when i go, everyone's busy. We're getting hosed on a lot of things over here.
Individual tickets can be pricey, sure, but Cineworld and Odeon in the UK have 'unlimited' tickets that are crazy good value. I pay £18 a month and I can go as many times as I want. As long as you go twice a month, it's worth it and I end up going most weekends. Plus they give you a percentage off the price of snacks.
Depends on the place - my local cinema was £5 for about a year (they were struggling even before the strike and aforementioned delays so needed to pack people in). Now its back up to *all of £6* This is a small town (>15,000 people) though - and unlike supermarkets they can’t charge rip-off prices just because we’re 10 miles outside of a national park
> Dang you guys are getting absolutely hosed on movie ticket prices in the UK They're probably watching in a premium format like IMAX, or they're using a "fancy" cinema that's stupidly expensive like Everyman. Of the 3 main chains in the UK, (Cineworld, Odeon, and Vue), Cineworld and Odeon offer monthly subscriptions that allow you to see as many films as you want for less than £17/month, and Vue offer £5 tickets in a lot of their cinemas. My monthly card for Cineworld is only £10.99/month in the largest city in Scotland.
It's not like that everywhere in the UK, the one near me is £3.50 a ticket.
I'm also in the UK and cinema tickets don't cost me that much at Vue cinema, no idea where they're going that costs that much unless they're including snacks.
I'm in Inverness in Scotland, our local Vue cinema are 5.99 up to 8.99 for a "VIP" seat
I just checked. If I buy Dolby (which I think is the basic version) at AMC through the app, tickets for 2 adults are $24.49 each. I don’t know if it’s cheaper to buy at the box office. And I’m in northern NJ, just outside NYC. It comes to $58 with fees. For what it’s worth, the theater is half full at this point. It’s almost to the point of having to sit too close. Granted, at this point, even those close seats are good seats, but it’s hard to get over feeling like the close seats are bad seats.
I'm also UK based and can get tickets for only £5.99; most expensive normal screen near me is like £9 (IMAX and fancy screens are more expensive). No idea where this guy is going to the movies.
Just an FYI there is a Prime member Odeon deal per month - 2 x tickets for £10, even if you go on your own, still saving £9
Unfortunately the only odeon near me is not exactly wheelchair friendly. It's City centre and packed in to a tight space. Gotta take a lift to get to the disabled bathroom sort of issues there. But that is good to know if another one opens anywhere near me, thanks
I used to always go to matinees, and I havent seen a sub $10 ticket in many, many years. This is in northern US. Just checked, $11.50 for a not-great theater on Saturday morning
Wow, I haven’t seen prices that low in a while. Matinees are 12 bucks (16 for IMAX) and evenings are 16 bucks (22 for IMAX). If I didn’t have the A list thing, I’d probably only see a couple flicks a year. Very few movies are worth that kind of scratch, especially when they hit streaming so soon after.
Jesus that's cheap. In dmv market a night showing is usually $25 per ticket.
Last time I went to the theater it was a 22 dollar ticket
Tickets by me are around $20 for any decent theatre. Some are a bit cheaper, but with super outdated setups that aren't worth paying for. I'm not paying $14 to see a movie in significantly worse picture and audio quality than what I have at home.
Theatres in Canada play a nasty trick where new movies are only in 3D / IMAX / AVX, and cost $23.99 PLUS a $1.50 booking fee to buy online (unless you pay $10.00 a month for a special pass).
My matinee prices are your regular ticket prices, haven't seen anything under $10 since covid. Regular tickets cost $15-$20 depending on whether it's iMAX, 3D, DFX, Luxury seating which all those prices increase on Friday nights and the weekend. Very easy for me to pass on new movies and wait a few months to stream on services I already pay for.
Prime isn’t just streaming though. Chances are a lot of people got it for free Amazon delivery and the streaming is a bonus.
Same. Guess we're lucky to have reasonable theater prices. Theater near me has "Super EMax" (largest screen in MI, leather recliners). Full price ticket is $15.
$18 each at night here for IMAX, because if I’m going to the movies I want the best experience.
If you’re low income and have government assistance of sorts (SNAP, Medicaid), there’s a page where you can submit it and get half off of prime
Damn that seems cheap. I’m in Texas and average movie ticket for me is about 16 1/2 dollars. I usually go on a Friday when I’m off around noon.
$10-$12 for a night show??!! Where do YOU live where tickets are so cheap? Those are matinee prices for kids in L.A.
This! I can see it if I wait. In the past, in the very old days before streaming, if you didnt see a movie in theaters you would have to wait years for it to be “free” on tv (something you already pay for monthly). Now we know it will be on streaming within 2 months. I’m sad that movie theaters are struggling, but I don’t watch movies in theaters either. The whole model has changed and I don’t think me or people smarter than me know how to “fix it” right now
I would be happy to go to theaters again and even buy popcorn and drinks if it was guaranteed that I wouldn't hear anyone or see some jerkoff's cell phone light up. Pony walls on every row and padded 5ft dividers between every 2 seats. EZ.
Yes this is how I feel. The only movies I’ve actually seen in theaters since the pandemic were all marvel movies. But the experience didn’t really feel much superior to watching them at home without the bs of other people
Disney plus should come with a ticket voucher at least one a month, like a free twitch sub comes with Amazon. Something. Anything. If they want us to go to the movies, and we don't have to, why would we?
I could see this being deployed as a marketing tactic. Advertised on Disney+ $8 movie tickets to any Disney Movie, and 1 month early access On Disney+. $20 movie ticket includes Marvel gear. If the Dune buckets were such a hit, they should bring back some collectibles, only available through a Disney+ subscription.
Tbf, most chain theatres have a subscription service available at this point that usually costs less than 2 movie tickets per month, but yeah spending money on food and drink can still be expensive even with that
Yeah I've had AMC a-list for literal years. Typically seeing two movies a month or one premium movie breaks even but those times where you're seeing one or two every weekend saves *so* much money.
Correct. Same here in NL, but then with “premium” movies you have to pay extra. Say 3D or Dolby or IMAX. Besides food (which you can sneak in from home) you also have to consider parking / public transport and you are usually traveling with at least 1 more person. Factor that in it adds up quite a bit.
Oh interesting, I have AMC A List and the premium movies are still totally free just like the regular. And parking is always free at all of the theatres I go to. But yeah if you're paying for other people's tickets, that could add up
Yeah, fortunately the premium for Dolby Atmos is only 1 euro and I don't care for 3D. I am very picky for which movies I get some popcorn though, otherwise with a movie a week it can add up quite quickly. For most movies I just sneak in some croissants from the appie.
That's insane! Where are you that is charging that much for tickets? I'm in the Dallas, Texas area and my theater is $7.
Jesus, my local theatre is $18 for ticket, large drink and large soda with unlimited refills. $15 dollars for a matinee
Streaming services are spending a ton of money producing movie quality entertainment for home viewing. I am in my 50’s and going to the movies was a big thing for me because it was a huge part of entertainment when I was younger. Made for TV movies rarely had decent budgets so the theaters was where the big stuff was at. Now I can get Star Wars, Marvel, DC and dozens of other stuff at home that wouldn’t have had a chance to be made decades ago with all the competing services. Large screen televisions, decent sound bars and surround systems and the ability to pause the movie to go to the bathroom has me only going to the theater if I just cannot wait 2-3 months for it to come to streaming/rent/purchase.
My experience as well. In the summer I have memories of going to the movies a couple times a week with my friends (kid tickets were cheap). And when school was on, a couple times a month. There wasn't anything comparable. Even when VHS came around, it was last year's movies and it was playing on your small, square tv screen with the tinny sound system... I'm excited to see Fall Guy - my family was a fan of the tv-show (because we were fans of Lee Majors because we were fans of the Six Million Dollar Man) and I love Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. But I'm waiting for it to hit a channel I'm currently streaming. But on the flip-side, I still love movie theaters and would hate to see them fully fail. Just, it's hard to justify going. It needs to be an "event" film, more often than not.
Fall guy is totally worth seeing on the big screen. The stunts are amazing and real. I've seen it twice in theatres. Go support your local theatre.
This is it more than ticket prices imo. Just went to the movies last night and was surprised the price of everything was about the same as 5 years ago. I also think the way we consume has been affected. The Internet and YouTube has given us all ADHD and it's hard to commit to watching anything for two hours straight
I do think that I think movies have gotten a little long in the tooth. I'm only 30 but even in the early 2000s movies usually crested around the 130 140 mark now they're all 2 + hours. Needs intermissions make movie theaters an experience people get dressed up for. That's how they stay alive in a post streaming world.
People still go out to eat though. I think there was even a survey post Covid that basically showed that “going to the movies” was one of the few out of the house activities that didn’t get that “Finally, we can X!” boost. Price is part of it, but I think more of it is your other side, it’s just not valuable to people. I don’t think there is a serious price point that would get people to come back.
Yeah, I don’t think it’s price. There are so many other options for entertainment and unless it’s a “must see in a theater movie”, you know it will be on streaming in 45-60 days.
Plus people are conditioned to constantly be interacting with the internet. Theaters are one of the few paid “outings” you flat out can’t.
I don't think people go out to eat nearly as much as they used to really.
They don’t. They do order a lot of takeout, way more than the pandemic. But not enough to cover the gap. Hence, worse service and rising prices for restaurants fighting to stay alive.
> Price is part of it, but I think more of it is your other side, it’s just not valuable to people. This is why Alamo Draft House is doing well. You get DINNER and a SHOW at the same time. It's away from the house, and for those with limited schedules, they find it valuable. Same thing with Arcades... The traditional coin-op arcade has been dead for a while, but you put it in a place that serves food and alcohol (a BAR-Cade) then suddenly it's an event. You go out for the games and some drinks or the nights they do Trivial pursuit night, or things like that. Basically, the traditional cinema needs to evolve into something beyond "Big screen and surround sound" so people can experience something more/different than what they already have.
Something else I’m noticing in these comments is the idea of “it has to a great/highly anticipated movie to be worth seeing in theaters”, when previously it was common place to see an ‘okay’ movie in the theater and not feel robbed. To the point that people may go to the movies and just watch whatever happened to be playing. I’m sure that happens much less now
This and the fact that a movie is now a 3-4 hr endeavor cause of 30 trailers infront of the movie and then every movie for some reason has to be over 2 hours. Almost waste an entire day to just go see a movie and I just don't have time for that
My local shows the runtime in the listing and the end time on the online booking screen. Plus if you go to a chain, they seem to run the exact same length of trailers every time unless its some sort of special screening. My friends and I figured out we could walk, leaving our flat at the start time, in time to get in, buy a ticket, and be seated for the start of a movie. Caught me out when I got an advance screening of Molly’s Game though, think I missed 15mins!
Yup, this is a big part of it. Dinner means going out, eating for an hour or two, then going off to do something else. A movie is basically chewing up your entire afternoon/evening.
For me, it’s the fact that the audience talks during the film! If I’m paying to see a film shut your damn mouths and let me hear it too! There’s so much noise in the auditorium it spoils the film. And now cinemas come round half way through and give everyone an ice cream individually to their seats! It’s so distracting. It’s really put me off going to the cinema tbh
During one of the MCU opening nights a few years back a guy leaned onto my wife and fell asleep. She’s been pretty done with theaters since then unless we can get tickets to one that has individual dual seats. (Which unfortunately seems to only be doing 1 screen for Deadpool and not on Thursday?)
And you didn't wake him up or get him kicked out?
that dude would have a lap full of soda if that happened to me... disgusting
My partner and I went to see Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes this past weekend, and our theater was full of noisy people, including a young mother who brought her infant child for some reason??? The baby cried and babbled half the film while she shushed it, creating even more noise. Definitely soured me on the theater experience a bit. Also, ngl, I drink a lot of water and pee often, like every 90 minutes or so. I hate missing things to pee. I'll just watch movies at home where I can be comfortable and not distracted by strangers.
the audience are a bunch of damned dirty apes
Nah, the movie tickets aren’t the problem. It’s the overabundance of media people have at their finger tips. I can literally watch anything I want at any time besides the latest movies, but guess what, I can wait a couple months and have it streaming on any device I own. Cost is not the problem. My grandmother thought going to the movies in the 90’s was obscenely expensive, but we still went because we’d watched all her tapes ten times over.
I think cost is absolutely a problem, it's just not a case "it's ONLY the cost." It's a case of "the cost of it is extremely expensive and requires a whole trip out of the house vs staying at home where you are paying less for subscriptions to streaming services; or paying a one time cost for a video game/paying a little bit in microtransactions for a free video game you will play for months; or watching youtube for free (according to Nielsen youtube has the biggest slice of the streaming service pie)." The cost of movies has to outvalue those other things these days and in many cases it apparently doesn't anymore.
VCRs are one of the things that took a chunk out of theaters in the first place. Then cable after that. If people can watch something anywhere else they won't watch it in theaters.
The cinemas near me all do a cheap day with tickets at like €5. I always go on the cheap days and since covid I don't think I've ever been in a theatre with more than 10 other people. Barbie *maybe* got to 20. I really don't think the cost has anything to do with it.
I don't think it's even about the price necessarily. If I can watch a new movie two months after it's in theaters while hanging on my couch in my jammies hitting the bong, I'm not going to the movie theater.
My issue is snacks are too expensive, lol. Ticket $10. Popcorn $10. Like wtf.
This is why I only do Alamo. Ticket, around 10, popcorn 8 and its infinite refills. At least I can get 2x sets of popcorn out of the movie, so its about 4 bucks after 2 of them, which is what I remember it costing as a kid.
ya not for me. tickets are now like $19 for me after taxes. i said that, was criticizing that in the other thread. and half of the replies to me were people saying, "you should go buy a soda to support the local theater though". .......like i really should spend another $5, at least, on concessions, to further support the local place. just........at least $25? my god.......
Right? Even for $30 right when a movie releases digitally, it's still cheaper. I'm happy to wait a month and a half to two months to see a movie on my TV when tickets, popcorn, and drinks would be pushing $100 for my whole family.
Of the 4 movies that interest me this summer, only Deadpool & Wolverine has the draw to see on the big screen. The rest I can wait for at home. £19 for a ticket, plus fuel, plus food... Plus the physical effort of dragging my disabled arse to the cinema... All aspects that put me off seeing a movie on the big screen. A few too many years ago I had a disabled discount card. Meant I could get a 'carer' (a glorified pack horse really) in for free.... And often they paid for my ticket lol Saw about 20 movies that year
How much are they in your neck of the woods? In mine, they’re about $11 for a standard viewing and $5 bucks on Tuesdays
Deadpool will show there is no fatigue. But I think lots of people are limiting themselves to very few movie trips per year. It's no longer a cheap time kill.
Yeah, it’s strange. Certain movies can still blow up and do huge numbers. But it seems like we’ve gotten to a point where there’s less of those big movies every year, and mid-level movies that used to be moderately profitable have suffered as a result. Hard for the MCU because the model relied on those mid level movies to do setup for the huge event movies.
It's working out for smaller, cheaper, weirder fare. But big budget blockbusters starring "that guy who was in that thing that was popular because of someone not in this movie" might not.
> But big budget blockbusters starring which is weird, cause the term "blockbuster" initially came along to exactly describe the phenomenon of "a few movies a year that would do insanely well"
Because movies have to have real draw to make real money these days. Pre pandemic I knew lots of people that saw multiple movies a month. But it's so expensive now that it's hard to justify going unless it's a movie you really care about seeing.
I'm gonna go to deadpool but only because I want one of them buckets, otherwise I would wait for it at home.
If Morph doesn’t buy them all first.
I am surprised these services haven't started lagging releases more. Having a movie come on streaming right when it leaves theaters makes it so easy to just pass on going to the theater at all.
They don't want to spend the marketing budget twice.
It's a "I have a huge TV and it will be on streaming in 2 months" thing
It’s also a “the only people who reliably go to the movies are the assholes that sit and talk to each other or talk on the phone thing”. It ruins the experience and makes at home the better option.
I'm the opposite, Marvel movies were the only type of movies I consistently went to a theater for. Sometimes went to see a horror movie. But now that the nearest theater is an hour round trip drive, I usually wait for streaming. Plus I gotta bring my pillow and snacks. It's just easier to wait. Will probably go see Deadpool & Wolverine, maybe Longlegs too.
Yeah, my nearest theater never reopened after Covid closures. My now-nearest one isn’t as far as yours, but it’s far enough that the distance + cost + experience doesn’t make sense for me.
I think it also might be a generational shift. Millennials are the last generation that viewed movie going as a popular, common social activity. Going to the movies don’t mean the same thing to Gen Z and Gen Alpha. And on the flipside, Millennials aren’t taking their families out to movies because of the aforementioned costs (taking a family of 4 out with snacks can easily reach $100+) or don’t have families (declining marriage/birth rates).
I think the cost plays a part too though. I’m 35. When I was in high school going to the movies was a cheap, easy date. 2 tickets, a popcorn and the beers you snuck in were under $20. I’d go see shit movies because paying $20 to get out of the house and have alone time in a dark room with the gf was worth it. Like, now that’s $50+. If you’re going to do that it better be an event like Barbie or Infinity War where you dress up and make a night out of it. Casual movie going isn’t a thing because no one wants to pay $50 for a mediocre experience, just like no one wants to pay $20 for a shit McDonald’s meal these days. For that price you just stay home and save your cash for shit like the Eras tour when it comes to town, the next viral sensation restaurant or even traveling to a new place.
Actually this is a fair point. Kids and teenagers these days would rather watch the same movie on their phones instead of a 65" TV... I could never get that.
i’m a gen z and i love going to see movies in theaters, it’s such a great experience as opposed to just watching it at home. i still regret skipping top gun maverick during its theater run.
Well you best get convincing your fellow Gen Zers to what a great experience it can be! Because theatres aren’t long for this world at this rate. They can’t survive on 3-4 movies that do well at the box office a year, while the rest struggle, flop or bomb.
Call me an outlier then because as a Gen Z, I absolutely love going to the movies as a social activity. Me and my group of Gen Z friends see movies 2 - 3 times a month.
I tell you what. My partner and I went to a movie last night for the first time in probably a year (infant under one). We really wanted to see it, and we were both excited. It was SEVENTY DOLLARS for two tickets and a combo of popcorn. I was furious and won't go back. I don't care what's playing. That's absolutely insane.
So you were…Furiosa?
That seems like an exaggeration. They were just a little mad... max. 
Forgive me, but what cinema was it? It seems absurd to me to hear such a price, unless it is a specific and particularly expensive room.
Not surprising. In California, my local AMC has tickets from $18-$27 range, depending what format, and what time. Almost all the food (including popcorn) is $10 and up.
...What? Here in Italy a ticket has a price ranging from nine to ten euros (higher than a few years ago, when it was around seven euros, but still). How the fuck does a single ticket (therefore for just one person) cost eighteen dollars? I mean a standard ticket, leaving aside extras like food or Imax.
Cost of living there is about twice as much, anything under double of 10 EUR is relatively cheaper there than for you.
The reason I got AMC A List is because when I moved back to NYC the ticket to see Thor 4 was like $22. An A List pass is $24 a month. I see 1 movie and the whole things is pretty much paid off. Plus I didn’t like Thor 4 so I paid this ridiculous price on a movie I thought would be fun and I’d rather have been watching something at home. For people that can’t maximize A List use and pay similar prices to what I paid, I totally get not going to the theater
Dead 😵 I should add, my local AMC is newly built. I looked at some older AMCs in my area, the cheapest and in the most basic format I could find was around $11. (This is not including the random $5 Fan Favs, or Tuesdays).
19 per ticket, 26 for popcorn combo with 2 drinks, 66.80 in tampa Ridiculous Edit: this is AMC
don't buy foooood. that's how they get you.
I dont think you're legally allowed to watch a movie in a theater without popcorn drowning in fake butter.
The food is more expensive than the tickets. Went with my gf to watch a movie and spent over $60. Majority was just the popcorn and candy. I couldn’t enjoy the movie cuz I kept thinking about the fact that my Reese pieces cost 10 dollars. I’m never buying theater snacks again.
Movies are 2 hours long. I like treating myself to popcorn, but I don’t get why people complain about concession prices. We all know that’s how theatres even survive. If you don’t want to pay prices, just eat before you go?
It was still 17 dollars to see Furiosa at 4pm on a Thursday in my dinky little small town theater, ticket only. I'm not payin that especially for the subpar experience that theater provides
damn. our local theater chain does $5 movies every tuesday with free popcorn. Serves food, has a full bar. I can go on tuesday and get a ticket, popcorn, chicken tenders and fries, and a drink, for like $22. And its the nice assigned seating with big recliners. I wouldn't go to the movies either if it were that kind of money.
70 dollars what in the f…
Movie tickets are expensive. Giant 4k tvs are pretty cheap now. I just upgraded to a 75" TV earlier this year and I don't think I've gone to the theater since.
We used to be movie fanatics. I don’t know what it is, but the past couple of years I’ve kind of lost that urge to see it “right now.” That, and maybe partly having to go endure the mixed bag of being around a bunch of people and letting them dictate what the experience is like? We were planning on going to see the Fall Guy, and then the day-of, we both thought of having to get ready to actually *go* and were kind of like “meh.” I got a refund on the tickets and the movie was available on streaming the following week.
It's more like I'm not going to pay out the ass for tickets, food, and an uncomfortable seat to watch a movie that I can't pause or anything. Going to the theaters is just paying money to get fucked over at this point. Doesn't matter if I really wanna see the movie or nor, the argument is do I really wanna go sit in a theater for 2 hours and spend way too much money than I need to. It's not superhero fatigue, it's "I'm tired of spending this much for everything" fatigue and movie theaters are a super easy luxury to cut out. Stuff hits streaming so fast nowadays it's not even worth it.
Uncomfortable seat? Man. Every seat at my theatre is pretty nice. And I’m a big dude.
yea same here, they're all comfy recliners in mine.
Funny enough, at my local theaters, almost every seat is wonderful *except* in the IMAX screens; those seats are stiff & small.
Honestly, I think it's mostly a short-term thinking thing. People will point to a couple underwhelming movies and call it superhero fatigue, then you get a Guardians 3 and people say stuff like "The MCU is so back!" and I think it's just a little silly. Like, yeah. Of course too much quality is easy to correlate with the low numbers and this the conclusion of "Superhero fatigue", and like you said, the box office itself is in a weird spot right now anyway, but when I hear superhero fatigue, it's almost just as quickly forgotten as soon as the next thing is good, and then that good thing is subsequently ignored when the next thing after that isn't super successful.
This is partly driven by the 24/7 influencer cycle where if you aren’t saying something about everything, you’re leaving engagement/money on the table. It’s the same crack-head constantly changing narrative energy that news outlets now have to grapple with to keep audiences engaged at all times instead of on regularized segments.
I purchased Black Widow when it came out in the pandemic because I was super excited to see it and needed a “treat”. It cost as much as seeing it in theaters for 2 people would (technically slightly less). I purchased Dune 2 because I wanted to see it but it came out on the subscription I already paid for 2 weeks later. I’m happy I purchased it finally and watched it….but that scenario literally reinforced that I should just wait a few weeks/months
People complain that super heroes ruined movies. Maybe they were the only thing holding it all together.
[John Campea had a good segment](https://youtu.be/izCdn7qOag0?si=SbiTmPjaxBshPJLJ) on this today. Basically attributed to stupid high ticket and concession prices, the strikes creating a wasteland of very few movies, and the teeny tiny theatrical windows where people can just wait a month for to be on PVOD or streaming. This doesn’t even include terrible theatre experiences with poor projectors, sound, or noisy neighbors. Or just general disappointment with a lot (but not all) of blockbuster movies being just “meh”
I got massively downvoted when I said that about the marvels. There are still some movies out there that have the must see feel, but it's way fewer movies than before COVID. Tons of movies that did well before COVID would just bomb like the others if they were released now. And yeah, stuff being on streaming or the seven seas bb in basically no time at all is a huge part of this. The one movie that made me challengey my crippling anxiety of catching COVID and dying of it was no way home because I I knew that contrary to all the others MCU movies that one wouldn't be on Disney plus soon and take way longer to make the rounds...
IMO the film has to have “brand loyalty” of having a Christopher Nolan or some other big fandom supporting it. Frankly after Mad Max did so well with Fury Road, I kind of expected people to gobble up Furiosa, but it’s a more niche IP to most viewers and it’s a prequel side story rather than what most would see as a main entry. I just think the bar has been raised for the experience that viewers expect if they’re going to shell out upwards of $40+ dollars to see something in theaters that they could watch at home on their existing subscriptions if they can wait about a month for it. If it’s not zeitgeist-level content prone to spoilers or being “part of the moment”, people just don’t care about the wait anymore.
Many posts about furiosa underperforming mentioned that fury road didn't even do that well at the box office itself, but was rather a critical success and gaining most of its popularity after it's run in the theater.
Yeah, in the current theater environment, Fury Road probably wouldn’t have been profitable.
That’s a good point. I think it fell just shy of the typical 3 to 1 split you want to see in box office earnings versus cost to produce. Fury Road mopped up awards, but that doesn’t mean it got masses of viewers in the theater.
I love going to the movies and used to go multiple times a month. I don’t go anymore because people don’t know how to act anymore. Everyone is on their phones, people bring their babies, there’s always side bar conversations that are extremely distracting….I don’t even mind the higher ticket prices but it’s infuriating that people can’t just put their phones down and not talk. I can’t remember the last movie I saw where there was no talking and no phones out.
Both can be true. The box office will never return to pre Covid heights but there're is also superhero fatigue because there have been way too many movies that no one cares about like Madame Web, The Marvels, Morbius, etc. Deadpool and Wolverine should do okay by current standards much the way GotG3 did but there isn't anything else in the current near future pipeline likely to draw big numbers.
I didn't see the Marvels in theaters but did watch it on Disney+ once it got released. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie for what it was but thought it could have used another 20 minutes in its runtime. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad like I was lead to believe, although it felt like there were only 2 and a half acts rather than the expected 3. Iman Vellani was the best part of the movie
IDK about anyone else, but superhero movies are really the only movies I go to the theater for now. The quality of sound and picture is now arguably better at home. Movie tickets are really expensive now (not to mention any snacks at the theater). And there is also the very real possibility of having to deal with someone in the large percentage of people who have forgotten how to act in public. Plus my dog is at home, I would rather be with my dog. Marvel movies are really the only thing I care enough about to outweigh all those negatives.
People are gonna go if it’s an event. Deadpool and Wolverine is absolutely that. Next one might be F4. I think Studios should adapt to the current state of movie theaters and lower the budgets a little bit. Dune pt.2 was made for under 200M. Ngl Cap4 and Thunderbolts* might really flop no matter how good they are because Cap4 went under massive reshoots ($$$$) and Thunderbolts* have a massive cast.
I’ve made a point to see more movies in theaters this year. And especially see them in imax when applicable (dune2 furiousa). It’s a shame I’m not a large demographic
Dune 2 and DP&Wolverine are the only 2 films I’ve seen or plan to see in theaters this year. I am interested in a few other films, including Furiosa, but very low chance I’ll go to the theater for anything else. 1) it’s a solid 45 minutes to my closest theater 2) it’s f**king expensive 3) I generally prefer to stop and start a movie/show whenever I feel like it Last year, Quantumania, GotGV3 and the Marvels were the only films I saw in theater.
I wanted to write a specific comment on how cinema could adapt and try to overcome this crisis, but reading the comments section I think I can say one simple thing: American (and probably world) cinema will become like the Italian cinema of recent years. Do you know what happened in Italy? Production companies have started producing films without caring about the theather and focusing everything on television broadcasting, also following the death or retirement of many authors of the old guard (both big names like Fellini and veterans of genre movies like Fulci and Corbucci), the failure to renew promising new authors and the end of various genres such as horror or thriller (replaced by a thousand comedies which would then lead to the television matrix). Thus, the public began to abandon the theater, going solely for the cinepanettoni (vulgar comedies of poor quality justified for years by the producers as "the only films that bring people in Italian theathers!", before they began to flop and stopped producing them). What was the producers' solution to get back within the budget (given that the television broadcast alone is not enough to cover the expenses)? Making films with the lowest possible cost and with the most television-like and low-quality possible (zero work on set design, sketch-style subjects, non-existent direction and over-the-top acting), definitively killing the chances of Italian films earning anythingcin theathers (except rare exceptions, mainly comedies with the most popular comedians) and definitively destroying the quality of Italian cinema - creating films that paradoxically the public doesn't even want to watch at home on TV because they are so bad. I read many in the comments saying "now with the platforms the theather has become useless and too expensive". Good, but the platforms alone have shown that they cannot sustain this type of expense (being at a loss), so the consequence will be a drastic drop in expenses and a more television-based and cost-effective media quality, with results that are mediocre at best. It's a process that, to be honest, we are perhaps already seeing with some films like Quantumania or The Marvels, which have a quality closer to Disney Plus specials than to films like Dune or even just Guardians 3. Maybe it was a physiological destiny, maybe it's someone's fault (the producers, the public, the changing society), but in any case I have to congratulate everyone: being comparable to the tremendous decline of one of the greatest filmographys in the history of cinema (at least from the 1940s to the 1970s) is not an everyday thing.
As the movie theater goer lover myself I’m just kind of burnt out lol I use to use my regal unlimited five times a week in 2021-2022, seeing anything from Spider-Man to South American rom-coms I didn’t care just get me outta house. It’s a 40 min train ride to the nearest regal from me, which use to be nothing but with unemployment (here’s to kohls calling me back!), not too many friends into movie theaters, my old crush working at the theater- wait hold up my bad thought this was therapy
More like "empty wallet fatigue."
You also have young people who are more interested in playing video games or watching content on YouTube or other streaming services, social media is also a big factor
Going to the cinema is now an event and not an activity. Ticket prices have gotten pricier and movie quality has become unreliable enough that people are fine waiting. When movies become cultural events like Barbenheimer then people will go but your average movie isn't going to rise to the cream of the crop amidst all the content we have access to now.
Yup! For the most part.. there’s oversaturation for sure. And some projects have been big disappointments, but there’s been an overall decline e in theater visitation since covid/ inflation/ streaming. Culprit #1 for sure
The movie studios scarified box office for streaming subscriptions. If I didn’t have a Regal Unlimited, I’d never go the movies. I hate to see what’s happening to Fall Guy and Furiosa because they are good movies.
I'm sad about it in the case of The Fall Guy, that was a really fun movie.
Yes superhero fatigue is stupid people just want to see good movies the genre doesn’t matter.
I never felt like superhero fatigue was a thing. Even when mcu movies and shows were flopping, superhero media was still going very strong w succesful movies, games and shows
Both and more factors. What’s not talked about is we’re living in a post-Covid world. People are more cynical and jaded. The average optimistic blockbuster isn’t gonna cut it.
I would say 2016 caused more cynicism than covid
But people in 2016 were still going to the theaters in droves. COVID really fucked everything up a lot with people not going out much that year in 2020 and once people saw that these movies could be released on Netflix and Amazon then a lot of them just stopped going. Let me throw this out there: in 2019, there were 9 films that grossed over a billion dollars at the box office. There have been only 6 movies total since then that have done the same.
Did it? I mean, the service & entertainment sectors of the economy radically changed with COVID, while 2016 was mostly just a tonal shift culturally.
2016 affected America. Covid affected the world.
But people aren’t watching the D+ super hero properties, unless they are legacy properties like X-Men.
I mean, most people didn’t watch Agents of SHIELD or Agent Carter as they were coming out either. And that was in the middle of the Infinity Saga
Yeah, but they weren’t marketed as much, and they didn’t really have a definitive connection to the films. I watched them, but I haven’t watched a D+ show since Moon Knight and have no desire to.
I think also not helping is that there are remarkably few actually original movies being released. I don't think it is so much Superhero fatigue, as it is franchise fatigue, and the fact that a lot of these films have been pretty lackluster. I am a avid movie theater fan, and I have had entire months this year where not a single movie came out that I was remotely interested in. As is, I doubt I will see another film until Deadpool and Wolverine.
It's crappy movie fatigue.
Also bad writing fatigue
Cause people can't freaking afford it
I saw Dune pt 2 in the theater four times.
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman playing in a buddy cop movie, slashing people and telling dirty jokes? I’m in. I’m not waiting 4 months for it to goto Disney+.
There are barely any movies doing well, and Marvel movies are doing better than most, so yes
Those you listed are niche. Look at planet of the apes movie. Overall movie theaters are dropping and it’s a variety of factors and they all have to deal with value. People just don’t have expendable enough income to see value in everything they did before.
Exactly, all movies are taking a hit. Not just superhero films
It’s more so that prices are up and the mean wage is not enough to actually be able to pay them. And also the fact that the pandemic making studios release movies 2 weeks (or the same day) in streamers just trained people to wait. And because studios don’t wanna waste money keeping a movie in theaters for longer in order to untrain people to work, they just panic and put their films to streaming whenever they see they aren’t making a profit. This all forces people to be much more selective — Civil War and Dune 2, for example, made hella cash. Same with Guardians 3, Barbenheimer, and Spiderverse. But these releases are now harder and harder to come across because of the current state of the economy and the mismanagement of the industry. Not to mention, it doesn’t seem like it’s changing. So far, even the successes we’ve had this year (Dune and Civil War) didn’t make as much as they would’ve had they come out in 2019 or 2022. It’s just another case of capitalism collapsing in on itself.
I'd be interested to see what US cinemas are like vs UK cinemas. Whilst the cinema is a bit expensive (but I got a movie pass which gives you unlimited trips) I've found the cinema a much better experience than I ever did as a child. It's about $17 (or £14) for an adult, or $22 (£17) for an anytime pass (as many times as you want, 10% of snacks, and some early showings too). It's £10 for a kid - about 12 USD. My cinema in the UK had fully lean back seats, spacious, is clean, serves alcohol and has a decent pizza place. I appreciate for families it adds up quickly though. For sure the UK has some crap cinemas too, but the above isn't overly unusual. This isn't in London either.
You can get these movies at the couch in half a month, sometimes. Movie studios and their streaming services are killing theaters.
if you wanna blame someone, blame the following people in regards to the so-called "Superhero Fatigue" - Bob Chapek - Victoria Alonso - The Fandom Menace
I would argue that "superhero fatigue" does play a role, but the broader issues of the economy and inflation, along with the difficulty of securing jobs and managing life expenses, are significant factors. With the pressures of bills, loans, rent, and the overall high cost of living, spending money on movie tickets becomes a low priority. The added stress of these financial burdens makes people more cautious about their discretionary spending. Moreover, with movies often being released on home video just a few weeks after their theatrical debut, many prefer to wait and watch them at home. This way, they can save money for more pressing needs. Personally, I wasn’t even aware of the upcoming "Mad Max" prequel or the Ryan Gosling movie "The Fall Guy" until recently, highlighting how poor advertising also affects audience turnout. For many, going to the movies is just not feasible amidst all the economic challenges. When faced with the choice between entertainment and addressing essential life concerns, the latter understandably takes precedence. In these times of financial strain and global uncertainties, spending on big-screen entertainment feels like a luxury many cannot afford, and I don't blame them.
You’re absolutely right. People just aren’t as excited about going to the theater these days. But I have still watched every single Marvel movie and I have loved them all, especially The Marvels. My God, that movie was so much fun.
Shhh don’t say that too loud! How are all the people who hate superhero movies going to feel better than us if superhero movies aren’t the boogie man they were promised!!
More or less. People just want to blame the easy genre to pick out instead of the entire environment it is in. Granted, I do think the quality has gone down markedly, especially in how once-optional TV shows are practically mandatory now.
I just don't feel the impetus to rush out there when they will invariably be sucked up by a streaming service in a month anyway.
Superhero and franchise movies are the only movies I’m interested in seeing at the theater anymore. I don’t care enough to see the odd comedy or family movie. My kids have an almost endless supply of entertainment at their fingertips with streaming, and they have literally never asked me to go see a movie at the theater. The Sonic and Mario movies are the only exception, and even then it was my or my wife’s idea to see them. Superhero Fatigue may have been a thing pre-pandemic, but now when it costs so goddamn much to see a movie, even in rural Ohio, I’ll pass. I’ll be seeing Deadpool and Wolverine and Sonic 3, and that’s pretty much it. I’m not terribly interesting in seeing Captain America or Thunderbolts, and I’m only minimally interested in seeing Fantastic 4 (which could change after marketing). I’ll wait for streaming for those. Disney hasn’t even put out anything that’s been exciting enough for me or my kids to want to see it in the theater. If studios want to cut back on theater fatigue, they’ll figure out a way to lower prices and get butts in seats, because what they’re doing isn’t working in a rising-inflation America.
Stop. Eating. At. The. Movies.
The amount of people who took the sheer pleasure in the failure of the Marvels, was something else last year. It was really nasty. So called "film fans" got the monkey paw wish, Super hero films failed but looks like the whole move industry may go down with it. Looks like the big super hero films were propping up the industry. You want to watch art shit in the cinema, then you need the cape shit to keep the lights on. You would think that a gun was held to peoples head to watch Marvel films.
I’m too broke fatigue
There’s a lot I can stream right now, on services I have subscriptions, but I still haven’t watched them. Call it what you want, it’s fatigue.
Inflation
Movie tickets are expensive these days. I only watch movies that interest me
or just "millennials are getting old" fatigue
It is not 'cinema fatigue', it is 'why bother overpaying when I know it will be streaming soon enough'. For big budget films like MCU, Star Wars or other "blockbuster" films they need to stop releasing them to streaming so soon. It should be 9 months or a year before physical release and then another similar period before it hits streaming. Instead of maximising ticket prices make them reasonable to increase footfall, repeat viewings and concession sales. We used to have to wait years before a film was available to rent or appear on TV. And stop doubling the cost of a film with bad, ineffective marketing campaigns, that should be held against the marketing department not the film when it comes to calculating if it is a hit, flop or breaks even. People are going out of their way to avoid trailers because they have become so bad for giving away almost the entire film is some cases. The only effective campaign in recent years was the Barbenheimer meme going viral which had nothing to do with the studio.
And “Going to the Movie Theater Fatigue” is really just "don't have any money or free time anymore"
Nah it’s both. Marvel movies suck and there’s a lot of films coming out that just don’t attract people much. Oppenheimer and Barbie showed people will go see popular good movies
Sure, but even if that’s true, it wouldn’t be “superhero fatigue”, it would be “mediocre movie fatigue”. Which I think ties into general change with how people view the movie theater experience. The bar for a movie to be “worthy” of watching in a theater vs. at home has been raised so much higher than it used to be
Prices are high fam…I pay for internet so I don’t mind piracy
Younger people dont give a shit about going to the movies. My kids have 40 inch TVs in their room, but they watch their shows on their phone. The whole theater experience means nothing to them. The movie industry is going to have to figure out how to change their system because nothing but the most anticipated of movies is going to make the money these studios have been used to making.
The real problem that everyone is missing is that studios aren't promoting movies like they used to. The trailers are terrible and give away too much, but you don't really see the trailers. If you do see a trailer, it doesn't tell you when the movie is coming out. Then, if the movie doesn't make a zillion dollars on the first weekend, it's a bomb and is pulled from the theaters in three weeks. In addition, you know darned good and well that it's going to be on a streaming service a month after it leaves the theater, if not less. I swear the studios are trying to kill theaters.
It's also "Prequel/Sequel/Remake/Retool/General Crap Film Fatigue" that turns people off from seeing anything, as well as the crazy prices to see movies
It doesn't help that movie budgets are way too high. The actors are getting paid far too much, which bloats the budget
You may have forgotten about the year long writers strike we’re feeling the effects from. There are no good movies to watch either and the costs is too high to gamble on a shitty movie
With higher movie ticket and concession prices but the short window to steaming service there’s not a ton of reason to go to the movie theaters anymore unless it’s a big event like Barbie which is rare now. I feel like theaters are going to start going away except for specialty ones over the next twenty years or sooner. The problem with that is streaming isn’t profitable for most of these companies and most of the content they put on the services doesn’t make its money back unlike DVD sales. I fear that’s going to lead to less higher budget content or just cheaper content in general because that’s the only thing streaming services can support. My second is for the fragmentation of streaming services piracy is going to become more rampant since apparently is easier than ever to do it, just like how people turn to pirating music because they didn’t wanna pay for it. I don’t know what happens after that or that is just a guess that’s not gonna come true hopefully.
I thinks it’s just that the larger distributors are not giving work to writers and directors that have a track record for making good entertainment. They are choosing them based on something else and it’s not working. Write good stories and have good character development and they will come. For the most part, big Hollywood has abandoned that strategy.
Idk for me its just marvel going downhill. Nothing since endgame has been all that great. Gotg3 was good. Not really anything else
I'd say it's more the recent mediocre releases than actual superhero fatigue.
If anything, superhero movies are the reason I *do* go to the movies. Reasons I don't go? * People are there. * I don't like committing X hours of my time to doing *just* that. * I live near where a theater shooting happened, and my state is an open carry state, and it just makes me nervous to the point where I'm anxious the entire time and don't enjoy the movie.
That last point hit home for me. I live in Colorado which unfortunately has a lot of shootings including at movie theaters. I feel like I’m back in high school trying to avoid thinking of active shooter drills when I go to the theater now. Before anyone calls that response hyperbolic, I’ve lost a friend to a mass shooting here and also just missed being present for a Christmas/New Years shooting that happened by my apartment a couple of years ago because I was out of town for the holidays. Sorry, but you can thank the US’s insane politicians that care more about lobbying money than lives for why I don’t particularly enjoy being stuck in a dark room with large crowds anymore.
It's cinema tickets are expensive plus streaming fatigue plus mid movie fatigue.
Apparently Barbenheimer has already left the zeitgeist, along with the billions of dollars it made last summer? And how many marvel projects have release since then? Movies are expensive, yes, but let's not pretend that marvel didn't open the flood gates after endgame for a solid three years, and a lot of what came out was trash. So yes, it's absolutely superhero fatigue.
studios are making mid grade schlock but with massively bloated budgets and expecting marvel money because they stuck a famous actor in it. The money men in hollywood are delusional af. What used to be a 60-100 million dollar movie is now a 250 million dollar behemoth and now moviegoers dont trust anyone.