cinemas are being squeezed to death caused by their and their landlords greed. tickets and food service is reaching many months of streaming service costs. leading to less and less patrons, eventually landlords will be left holding some pretty expensive auditoriums
[Q] Since netflix launched, how many theatres have closed, and how far down has theatre attendence dropped ?
[duck.ai]
Theaters: The U.S. had roughly 7,200 theater locations in 1996; a recent industry estimate puts the current total at about 5,100–5,400. That’s a net decline of roughly 1,800–2,100 locations. [patricksisson.com]
Attendance: Ticket sales were about 1.35 billion in 1997 and 769 million in 2025—down roughly 43%. From Netflix’s 2007 streaming launch, when sales were about 1.41 billion, the drop is roughly 45%. The peak was 1.57 billion tickets in 2002, making the decline from that peak about 51%. These are tickets sold, not unique moviegoers. [Pew Research Center]
Those figures show a long-term decline, but they don’t show that Netflix alone caused it. Attendance was already falling from its 2002 peak, and the pandemic caused a particularly sharp drop. [Pew Research Center]
Streaming killed Blockbuster, and its bleeding theatres like a vampire.
People on constrained time/money budgets would rather just queue up a movie on the TV.
No drive time, no gas expense, no standing in line, no dealing with the public, no sticky floors, no $10 boxes of candy with 2 ounces in it. Popcorn for $0.25 at home, and plenty of time for sleep before work/activities the next day.
I don't think movie theatres will disappear, but they have lost their utility status. It used to be the only option, and now, for many, its the least attractive option.
Trailers are there to give you time to complain to the projectionist about chromatic aberration and have them fix it before the feature.
cinemas are being squeezed to death caused by their and their landlords greed. tickets and food service is reaching many months of streaming service costs. leading to less and less patrons, eventually landlords will be left holding some pretty expensive auditoriums
I'm not sure "greed" is to blame.
[Q] Since netflix launched, how many theatres have closed, and how far down has theatre attendence dropped ?
[duck.ai]
Theaters: The U.S. had roughly 7,200 theater locations in 1996; a recent industry estimate puts the current total at about 5,100–5,400. That’s a net decline of roughly 1,800–2,100 locations. [patricksisson.com]
Attendance: Ticket sales were about 1.35 billion in 1997 and 769 million in 2025—down roughly 43%. From Netflix’s 2007 streaming launch, when sales were about 1.41 billion, the drop is roughly 45%. The peak was 1.57 billion tickets in 2002, making the decline from that peak about 51%. These are tickets sold, not unique moviegoers. [Pew Research Center]
Those figures show a long-term decline, but they don’t show that Netflix alone caused it. Attendance was already falling from its 2002 peak, and the pandemic caused a particularly sharp drop. [Pew Research Center]
Streaming killed Blockbuster, and its bleeding theatres like a vampire.
People on constrained time/money budgets would rather just queue up a movie on the TV.
No drive time, no gas expense, no standing in line, no dealing with the public, no sticky floors, no $10 boxes of candy with 2 ounces in it. Popcorn for $0.25 at home, and plenty of time for sleep before work/activities the next day.
I don't think movie theatres will disappear, but they have lost their utility status. It used to be the only option, and now, for many, its the least attractive option.