The death of revival of cinema?
Due to the pandemic the world faced in 2020, the enjoyment of going to the cinema rapidly declined. With theatres being shut, streaming platforms became the only service available practically destroyed cinemas’ lifeline.
From staying indoors, blockbusters were not being produced, causing a massive rush of subscriptions and content landed on platforms such as Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple Tv etc. As of 2023, Netflix has 247.15 million accounts, with their most streamed show being Squid Game with 265.2 million total views and over 2.2 billion viewing hours. Obviously, to understand the overwhelming amount of people who have Netflix alone can really put into perspective how much the popularity of cinema has slowly been handed over to streaming platforms. However, in 2022, cinema attendance increased by 63%, compared to 2021, with 643 million tickets being sold in the EU alone.
Between streaming platforms and cinema, there has been a rising competition, with even the then CEO of Netflix, now chairman, Reed Hastings, stating “the popcorn tastes better, but that’s about it”. This sharp comment clearly highlights how Netflix feels about cinema: a thing of the past, to be forgotten about and replaced by the streaming era. But is this all totally true? A lot of people, especially now that we are out of the pandemic with many industries trying to return to pre-COVID work, are returning to the cinema. more people are seeing it as an almost nostalgic idea of the world before COVID and recognising the enjoyment cinema holds.
A clear example of this is when the highly anticipated Spider-man: No Way Home came to cinema screens in 2021, an absolute sensation was born. This was cinemas’ saving grace, the infamous film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought in 1.916 billion, completely shattering the believed perception that cinema was eventually dying out. Could Spiderman have been the resurrection of cinema? Could it be the starting point of people being reminded of the relaxation and comfort they can feel in their local cinema? Similarly, other recent blockbusters that have absolutely shattered the expectations and supplied a lot of hope for the return of cinema are films like Barbie, Oppenheimer, Saw X, and The Eras Tour. But, with competition, massive Netflix films and shows like Sex Education, Beckham, The Night Agent, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Series, Ginny and Georgia, and Glass Onion, have provided a struggle for films in cinema. These titles have accumulation a lot of attention, but a lot of that has been outshone by a film the previously mentioned, Barbie. The social media presence that Barbie held, and the emotional connection led to over $1.4 billion in the box office. So, is cinema on its way out?
So why is cinema slowly, arguably, dying? Here’s why:
- Rise of streaming platforms
- Declining theatre attendance
- Lack of diversity in films (films becoming predictable)
- Piracy (unauthorized use or reproduction of someone's work)
- High production cost
Overall, cinema is slowly making a comeback from the knock down the pandemic delivered but will streaming platforms continue to allow this?
Article by Freya Whitehouse
Image by Freepik