The Movie Theatre Apocalypse Loading…..
“For me, there is nothing valuable than how people feel in a movie theatre about a movie.” — Will Smith
Entertainment as an industry always keeps the audience hooked across all weathers. Even the pandemic could not deter the people from watching their favorite movies and TV series or wait for the release of a new movie. The fundamentals of entertainment industry will always remain the same, but situations demand the need for change of its medium. Until the pandemic storm of 2020, people across the world would eagerly wait for weekly releases of new movies and head to their nearest theatres to have a gala time watching their favorite movies and enjoying it with coke and popcorns. Visiting theatres had become a family event and a fun time for friends to watch their favorite stars capture the imagination of the audience. However, the pandemic had different ideas.
2020 marked the first year in the past decade when the multiplexes and single movie theatres recorded losses. With government-imposed lockdowns, there was nothing these cinemas houses could do to garner any revenue. 5 months into 2022 and there are some encouraging signs of people returning to watch their favorite movies. However, it is just not the same and it seems that the so called 2012 Apocalypse which called for the world o end is instead translating into doomsday for movie theatres. Till now, Indian theatres have seen an influx of 380–390 crores of revenue, against a planned run rate of 4400 crores in 2019. This clearly indicates that things are still dying down instead of picking up. We can attribute the pandemic to be a major factor in the contribution towards a potential apocalypse for Movie Theatres, but there are several other aspects that are being overlooked which are contributing to this doomsday.
1. Onset of OTT (Over the Top) platforms: The past 2 years have resulted in multiple OTT platforms coming to the fore apart from Netflix, Prime Video, etc. This is allowing the audience to have more options and watch their favorite movies and series within the confines of their home. The availability of so many options to watch without having to travel to another place has made people reluctant to go to the movie theatres.
2. Increased patience of audience: Before the pandemic, people flocked to the movie theatres to catch the first day first show of the movies. With the launch of movies exclusively on OTT platforms, and the movies released in theatres also coming on OTT within a month (RRR is already on Netflix), the audience is willing to wait for the movies to come on OTT platforms. In addition, people are already paying for the subscriptions and many intelligent investors do not see a point of spending huge sums of money on movie tickets
3. Advancement in TV technology: Movie theatres were known for best-in-class Dolby surround sound and HD screens. With the constantly evolving Smart TV technology, you can have a Dolby surround smart HD television to watch your favorite and new movies while sitting in your living room. People are able to replicate the movie theatre experience in their homes and this is allowing them to save travel time and money on movie tickets and experiences.
4. Health Conscious citizens: Pandemic has turned everyone into a health freak with people turning to diet conscious meals. A visit to the theatre is invariably coupled with a tub of popcorn and coca cola. The target segment of movie theatres has suddenly become health conscious and are looking to avoid going to theatres to end up gorging upon the fat laden meals. Instead, they prefer having a healthy snack on their sofa and enjoy a luxurious experience watching movies and series in their homes.
The only way to prevent the apocalypse is for movie theatres to follow a 2-pronged approach of partnering with production houses to have exclusive releases in theatres like the olden times. There will be some compromises on the bottom line, but the dividends would pay off in the longer run once exclusive releases in theatres becomes a rule of thumb and people are forced to come to theatres to watch movies. It is important for the theatres to turn back the time and see how they tackled channels like HBO, Sar World, etc. where new movies would come only 6 months after their release. The other cheeky approach that theatres need to follow is introduce a huge segment of healthy dietary offerings to allow the audience to enjoy their movie while feasting upon gluten free garlic bread or plant based baked nuggets. Avoiding any of these measures will continue the loading of apocalypse to 100% in no time.
