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Do you think movies will get hit like the malls are?
- Thread starter CampbellzSoup
- Start date
Junior Asparagus
Member
I think there'll be a place for movie theatres...or at least the decline won't be as shop as they were for malls.
Time recently had an article about the death of the shopping mall. http://time.com/4865957/death-and-life-shopping-mall/
Time recently had an article about the death of the shopping mall. http://time.com/4865957/death-and-life-shopping-mall/
Tawney Bomb
Member
Considering I rarely buy moves, I'm fine with watching them in theaters, so I hope they stick around. Plus if malls are disappearing why are the ones by me so packed all the time?
Joe T.
Member
Movie theaters will likely go the way of the shopping mall since that's the direction humanity seems intent on taking, moving towards convenience at the cost of everything else. Online shoppers often can't really judge the quality of what they're buying, but they take the chance anyway because it's more convenient than driving to a store or two and trying on a bunch of shoes/clothes/whatever. If movie studios keep making concessions to attract people - and they're already doing some of that with all-you-can-watch monthly passes or same day/week releases for smaller movies - then it'll only be a matter of time before the masses realize it just isn't worth paying $10-20/ticket + overpriced snacks to see a movie at the theater, especially as 4K TVs become the standard. It's unfortunate because I love watching a good movie in a packed theater, conversing with friends and strangers in the waiting line, but I see it as only being a matter of time.
Escape Goat
Member
because all the other malls closed?
shira
Member
In my area theaters are in malls or anchoring strip malls. If those malls fail the are done
Wait till your area gets one day Amazon
Mr. Wonderful
Member
Haven't been to an actual "indoor" mall since like high school lol.
Dig these kind of outdoor malls though
These are just as bad unless mixed with residential space, literally recreating a downtown. Even worse, they're highly impractical, in the northern half of the US.
BackLogJoe
Member
Malls around me in the midwest are dying. I went to LA last summer and the malls there were packed like they used to be where I lived.
I mean they already are feeling threatened. I saw Spider-Man Friday and the opening message was Tom Holland thanking everyone and saying a theatre was the true way to experience film.
They've tried to push 3D to keep a unique experience, now they're tearing up seating and reducing number of seats for more luxury seating with meal options (which if you're hurting for business doesn't make sense to limit the number of seats).
They've tried to push 3D to keep a unique experience, now they're tearing up seating and reducing number of seats for more luxury seating with meal options (which if you're hurting for business doesn't make sense to limit the number of seats).
forgeforsaken
Member
They aren't really spending a ton of money while there though are they?
Lots of people, especially young people and minorities work at malls. The thing that is replacing these jobs are robots in online shipping warehouses.
SirMossyBloke
Member
Millions of people?
Zeus Molecules
illegal immigrants are stealing our air
I think as CGI advances physical actors will go the way of the DoDo's but movie will continue to exist because they are a still a great deal on group entertainment based on price.
Someone is spending money. 2015 and 2016 both broke annual records at the domestic box office in terms of dollars. Overall ticket sales are down from their peak in the late 90s/early 00s, but are still above where they were in the 80s when home video caught on.
Lol good luck with the bolded part. Most theatres are switching to reserved seating so you can't track down your preferred viewing seat in the theatre.
teruterubozu
Member
That's cuz they charge way more for movies than in the 80s, but general attendance has declined.
There was a good podcast I listen to about two weeks ago explaining why watching movies are better to watch in theaters vs home movie setups. Also talked about the friendship heights neighborhood community in DC help save the Uptown theater, another group explaining the importance of why older movies that are played in Smithsonian's theaters in the DC museums, and how different independent theaters are opened in the area(Atlantic Plumbing Cinema).
Hope someone can find the podcast and post it.
Hope someone can find the podcast and post it.
You are not reading that right.
More tickets are sold now than the 80s.
The actual dollar amount is 3-4x higher than it was in the 80s, but ticket inflation is responsible for most of that. The decline that everyone cites is from a decade to two decades ago. Not 30 years ago.
teruterubozu
Member
We need some graphs up in here.
You don't know what you're talking about. Malls were amazing in the '80s and into the early '90s. Great places to spend an afternoon with friends.
Roronoa Zoro
Gold Member
I have 2 rundown malls around me (north of Pittsburgh) and one awesome and packed one. I know there's another one south of the city that's pretty huge but an hour away. Also going down to Dc and Phoenix there have been multiple packed malls around the cities with niche stores in them thriving. I think they'll just survive less in less populace areas
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Something disappearing doesn't literally mean there'll be none of them -- there are still literally hundreds of drive-in cinemas in America and yet we'd all agree those have "disappeared". They're a quaint, bizarre artifact of the past. Malls are not quite as endangered, but are getting there. A recent analysis suggests there are about 1,100 malls in America, and about 350 of them are in imminent danger of being in a death spiral or closing altogether. That's not a number that's going to be magically reversed.
In terms of conventional cinemas, I think they've been hurt by several things. The exclusivity window for theatrical films versus VOD, including free VOD, is getting shorter and shorter. My guess would be that cinemas are selling fewer, more expensive tickets than they did 10 years ago, and that will not be sustainable indefinitely. Recent news reports suggest that both Comcast and Netflix are negotiating a plan to have people be able to rent movies currently in theatre for $30-50 and for a family of 2-3 this is often going to be a better option than going to a theatre. Obviously the experience in terms of sticky floors and cell phones is pretty miserable at this point. Most of the growth in film distribution recently has been VOD services like Amazon and Netflix and while they aren't going to make $250 million garbage superhero trash or Transformers, they're buying up a lot of the $5-25 million budget range and they aren't really required to see cinemas as allies. It looks like the academy awards will likely drop their "the movie must have theatrical distribution" requirement over the next few years -- and while this really only impacts some very low budget prestige films, it's another sign of the times. And yes, the collapse of malls is going to hurt cinemas too.
I think if you fast forward to, say, 2030, there are likely to be fewer theatre screens, fewer new release films in theatres, fewer people buying tickets. I think super-premium experiences are likely to be somewhat more isolated from this, but that they will suffer as well.
Hyperbole probably causes deniers to push back more forcefully than they should. I think cinemas face structural challenges that they will ultimately not overcome. Exactly how fast that will happen I'm not sure. But that's okay. Even if you like going to the cinema, there's no need to be worried that your grandkids won't have an experience you had just like it's not important that you have lived through using an outhouse or riding in a horse and buggy or war rationing or playing jacks or marbles. Like, it's OK.
In terms of conventional cinemas, I think they've been hurt by several things. The exclusivity window for theatrical films versus VOD, including free VOD, is getting shorter and shorter. My guess would be that cinemas are selling fewer, more expensive tickets than they did 10 years ago, and that will not be sustainable indefinitely. Recent news reports suggest that both Comcast and Netflix are negotiating a plan to have people be able to rent movies currently in theatre for $30-50 and for a family of 2-3 this is often going to be a better option than going to a theatre. Obviously the experience in terms of sticky floors and cell phones is pretty miserable at this point. Most of the growth in film distribution recently has been VOD services like Amazon and Netflix and while they aren't going to make $250 million garbage superhero trash or Transformers, they're buying up a lot of the $5-25 million budget range and they aren't really required to see cinemas as allies. It looks like the academy awards will likely drop their "the movie must have theatrical distribution" requirement over the next few years -- and while this really only impacts some very low budget prestige films, it's another sign of the times. And yes, the collapse of malls is going to hurt cinemas too.
I think if you fast forward to, say, 2030, there are likely to be fewer theatre screens, fewer new release films in theatres, fewer people buying tickets. I think super-premium experiences are likely to be somewhat more isolated from this, but that they will suffer as well.
Hyperbole probably causes deniers to push back more forcefully than they should. I think cinemas face structural challenges that they will ultimately not overcome. Exactly how fast that will happen I'm not sure. But that's okay. Even if you like going to the cinema, there's no need to be worried that your grandkids won't have an experience you had just like it's not important that you have lived through using an outhouse or riding in a horse and buggy or war rationing or playing jacks or marbles. Like, it's OK.
I have always hated malls, even in the 80s and 90s.
and because a lot more movies come out and there are a lot more screens than the 80s.
The number of movie screens in the US has nearly doubled from 87 to today from 20,500 to 39,500. Over the past 3-4 years screen growth has been almost flat in the US (still growing internationally)
Haven't been to an actual "indoor" mall since like high school lol.
Dig these kind of outdoor malls though
Do they make all of those look the same? I swear I've been to that exact place before.
I once heard that normal malls are dying out but "mega malls" are still doing quite well. Anecdotally, I would tend to agree, the small mall close to here to pretty much dead and the most business it gets is for the movie theater, meanwhile, the whole malls in Orlando are always insanely busy.
Jon Carter
Member
That's probably why the OP confused me then. Malls don't show signs of dying at all here.
Roronoa Zoro
Gold Member
Thank goodness. I love that the IMAX around me has switched to reserved. Now I don't have to show up a half hour early to make sure I get good seats
eot
Banned
That video doesn't explain anything
Malls are a fundamentally broken concept now. The cost of rent is so high that it necessitates higher prices on retail goods. Higher priced retail items only make people switch to online shopping faster. It's a death spiral.
Movie theaters will probably have some contraction and consolidation, but the model upon which that business is based remains sound. There's a sizable and significant audience that is willing to pay for a premium film experience.
Movie theaters will probably have some contraction and consolidation, but the model upon which that business is based remains sound. There's a sizable and significant audience that is willing to pay for a premium film experience.
Around here if your mall has anchored by an Neiman marcus, Nordstrom, or Saks it is doing great. It is anchored by a Sears, Macy's or JC Penny it is probably not long for the world.
Gordon Shumway
Banned
Depends on where you live, I guess. I live in a wealthy ass county. Malls around me ain't going anywhere..
FloweryMarston
Member
there's a movie theater in the mall of my city
Malls are dying? They keep building bigger ones around me and extending their hours and stuff. Maybe because I'm in Canada and people want to escape the weather? I live in Burnaby, BC. Directly adjacent to Vancouver. We have Metrotown, one of the biggest malls in Canada, and Brentwood Town Centre is being renovated into something of similar size. It takes 10 minutes to drive between them.
Out in Surrey, Vancouver's largest suburb, they recently renovated their biggest mall into something even bigger and gave it longer hours. That said, their other big mall was heavily renovated years ago and never recovered. All the anchor tenants left. It gets traffic bit half the stores look like they must have been rented out super cheap. Stuff like a used game store that's slightly sketchy, generic "urban" clothes of questionable quality, etc.
Out in Surrey, Vancouver's largest suburb, they recently renovated their biggest mall into something even bigger and gave it longer hours. That said, their other big mall was heavily renovated years ago and never recovered. All the anchor tenants left. It gets traffic bit half the stores look like they must have been rented out super cheap. Stuff like a used game store that's slightly sketchy, generic "urban" clothes of questionable quality, etc.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Meh. The only reason I go to theaters anymore is impatience.
I have to drive pretty far for an experience that doesn't have annoying flaws, though.
The screens at my local multiplex are filthy, for starters.
Albino_Yeti
Member
Outdoor malls are where it's at. Especially on a nice day.Haven't been to an actual "indoor" mall since like high school lol.
Dig these kind of outdoor malls though
I don't think theaters will go completely extinct, instead I bet they go the way of the arcade. Still around, but in much smaller numbers than they use to be.
Neff
Member
I've recently come to the conclusion that unless I absolutely have to see a movie day one, it's just not worth the expense, travel, potentially missing important scenes when you want to piss, putting up with idiots using their phones, uncomfortable seats etc
Back in the day when the best way to watch movies at home was via VHS- a cinema trip was absolutely worth the inconvenience, it was such a huge difference. Now that we have Blu Ray and giant 1080p/4K TVs, not so much.
Back in the day when the best way to watch movies at home was via VHS- a cinema trip was absolutely worth the inconvenience, it was such a huge difference. Now that we have Blu Ray and giant 1080p/4K TVs, not so much.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
Yes. And how the hell is it scary?
I think there will be more demand for same day/soon after releases as streaming services flood the market with quality movies at home. Also, 4k TVs and some of the audio setups available are fairly cheap and provide a very high quality experience inside the home. A 55 inch LG OLED that fits comfortably inside a living room space costs 2K. Don't want the highest quality TV? You can grab a great quality 4k TV 55 inches or more for well under under 1k. Throw any soundbar with a subwoofer in from any of the major manufacturers and you have decent sound.
However, there are just some movies that beg for the home theater experience, which cannot be easily replicated in the home at comparable quality. As someone stated earlier, people will take the "quality hit" for most movies in the interest of convenience.
Also, I HATE the newer movie theaters that have reclining chairs, a full restaurant, and a server. Like, it's a 2-3 hour movie. Why would you need all of that? I've been to one in my area before and there are so many distractions, like sound of people eating full meals, the servers whispering to people about their orders, and iPads that show the menu are everywhere. They even have fucking pillows and blankets!!!
However, there are just some movies that beg for the home theater experience, which cannot be easily replicated in the home at comparable quality. As someone stated earlier, people will take the "quality hit" for most movies in the interest of convenience.
Also, I HATE the newer movie theaters that have reclining chairs, a full restaurant, and a server. Like, it's a 2-3 hour movie. Why would you need all of that? I've been to one in my area before and there are so many distractions, like sound of people eating full meals, the servers whispering to people about their orders, and iPads that show the menu are everywhere. They even have fucking pillows and blankets!!!
Not at all. People still want that premium movie going experience. And people love to see shit when it first releases.
Despite what i thought, movies are still super popular. I couldn't believe that Girl's Trip had a full house on the SECOND week of showing. And that was even after the showing before it got sold out.
I can kinda see Movie Theaters adopting a subscription service however in the future. Like pay $20 a month for unlimited screening. Pay an extra $10 or so dollars for for like free popcorn or some shit.
Despite what i thought, movies are still super popular. I couldn't believe that Girl's Trip had a full house on the SECOND week of showing. And that was even after the showing before it got sold out.
I can kinda see Movie Theaters adopting a subscription service however in the future. Like pay $20 a month for unlimited screening. Pay an extra $10 or so dollars for for like free popcorn or some shit.