Are Movie Theaters Slowly Dying?

As streaming services become more popular, movie theaters are becoming a thing of the past.

Since COVID-19 hit in 2020, people have been practically forced to stay home. Movie theaters took a hard hit due to this. First, there was low attendance at movie theaters. Their finances dropped, and then there were closures due to a lack of attendance and an inability to keep their heads above water.

Finances dropped not only because people were not coming to the theater, but they were also not buying anything. COVID forced movies out of production or gave them strict guidelines for safe production, so movie theaters were not making money because the companies needed to sell their movies to theaters.

Conversely, as people stayed at home, online streaming services started to be an easy option to watch movies. Studios that were still producing films began producing them for streaming. Movies published only online don’t make more than a physical release, but they cost a whole lot less to distribute and advertise.

In August, I went to see Inside Out 2, but barely anyone was in the theater. Movie theaters are also slowly dying because streaming services are more accessible. The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on movie theaters is still felt, weakening the presence theaters have. The thought of movie theaters dying is sad, considering how prominent they were just five years ago.