The smell of butter-saturated, salty popcorn, the dim studio lights, the chilly gusts of wind from the overpowering air conditioning and the overpriced yet addicting candy selection.
The inside of a theater is a place that almost everyone has had the pleasure of experiencing. Maybe you’ve had a nerve-racking middle school first date at the movies, or a school field trip or a weekend outing with friends. In every case, you have gathered with people, (or gone alone) to see the newest film out that week. Regardless of genre, movies are a place where people gather for a good time, for entertainment and a place to escape the world for a few hours.
However, with the intense prominence of streaming services and film studio’s obsession with being released digitally as soon as possible, it seems in-person patronage is on the decline.
In the past few years, during the pandemic, studios have changed how films are released to be more accessible from home. While this is helpful for people who are physically unable to get to their local theaters but still want to support the industry, it’s also directly causing the downfall of those same theaters.
Usually, when a new film is released and added to the showtimes of a theater, the film stays playing for anywhere from two to three weeks, with multiple showtimes each day. Now, for example, "Barbie" was released to national theaters on July 21, with showtimes happening every few hours.
It was only in theaters for about two weeks, before it was announced that it would be released digitally on Sept. 11. On the contrary, when the final Star Wars film, “The Rise of Skywalker,” was released in theaters in December 2019, it was playing for upwards of three weeks, and wasn’t released digitally until April the following year. It seems in just the past few years, films have been made with the main purpose being for them to be released digitally as soon as possible. Now, what does this mean for local theaters?
With shorter time slots for theaters to show films, many people don’t make time to actually go and see the films in person, rather they simply wait the two weeks before it’s up on their favorite streaming service.
There is an argument to be made that it’s saving time and money to not have to drive to the theater and spend the money on snacks and gas, and it takes more time to plan a trip away from home. However, the average film released digitally costs about $20, according to the prices listed on Amazon Prime.
On average, It’s about the same price to see a movie at home as it is to see it in theaters, plus or minus a few dollars. So that raises the question: Why not spend the extra time to support a local business rather than putting money in the already lush pockets of streaming titans like Amazon and Netflix?
Not only does seeing a movie locally support the theater itself, but it also provides more revenue for the director and cast of the film. Especially if the film is independent, having in-person revenue helps the cast themself be paid for their work, rather than a streaming service or the studio backing the film taking a sum of the earnings for themselves.
So, the next time you see a new film being released that you want to set aside time for, look and see if it's playing at a theater near you, as you’ll not only be supporting the entertainment industry itself, but you’ll be letting the local theater owners know you want them to stay in business.
Mia Ashby is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tell Mia by emailing her at ma237419@ohio.edu.
