It is often said that cinemas are dying and the new streaming services that came up to the market recently are only speeding up the process. As much as we love our cinemas, it’s safe to say they’re a bit stuck in their ways and haven’t changed that much in the recent years. But how does this look in reality? Do people still love going to the cinema, or is it really a dying industry not worth investing in?
The Box Office
How much do cinemas earn? A lot more than we would think they actually do. If you ever hear the term Box Office, you know what it refers to is how much sales did a particular movie generate on a country or global level. And let us tell you – in recent years there were a lot of chart toppers played in the cinemas across the globe. The film industry might be largely dominated by American productions, but it still manages to capture the audience and make it come to the cinema whether it is a small town in the US or anywhere in Europe or Asia. Safe to say, people still love the idea of sitting in a room with strangers, watching a movie premiere and enjoying every minute of it.
The innovations
Why cinemas are still so popular in the world? There is no easy way to say this, but no technology is able to substitute the big screen. The idea of being nearly immersed in the movie, seeing it from every angle possible and actually experiencing it with great sound and image quality is far better than sitting on a couch with a tablet in hand, watching a movie a year after its release. The film industry is still strongly reliant on the sales that it makes in the cinemas before the movies hit the streaming services.
And it seems to work. Although 2017 was by far the weakest year of the decade, people are not ready to turn their backs on cinema. All they expect is innovation and fresh look on some old classics – regular 3D is not a novelty now and it’s time to move on to better, newer technology. If cinemas would manage to do that, and IMAX is the best proof they actually can, people will be more than happy to pay for a screening. After all, you can’t watch a movie at your own house on a screen bigger than a small building!