Cinema is dying and there is no going back

Theatre ruled the world of entertainment all across the globe for centuries. Then came the age of cinema. During the 1930s, more than 65% of the population in America used to go to see movies in the cinema. That number has been steadily declining and reduced to less than 10% this century. That was before Covid and the massive inflation rates that affected the industry and the general populace. The industry has been declining slowly over the last century, few blockbusters making billions is not a revival but proof that a one-in-a-thousand big franchise is the only thing that can bring people to the cinema. The industry can not and will not survive on one blockbuster a year. People are just not coming out to watch anything else, and nothing can be done about it. Let's look at the factors that have led us to this:

Cost of Living:

In 1968, a minimum wage worker earned $10.59 per hour in inflation-adjusted terms, 46% more than today’s $7.25 federal minimum wage. That is the crux of the issue at heart. Today's families simply can not afford to budget for a cinema experience. The cost of living has been rising, and wages have failed to keep up. The priorities of the families have rightfully shifted to more essential necessities. Cinema going is not a casual fun activity but an expense that demands cutting costs from other essentials of daily life. When families earn far less than they used to, cinema-going becomes impossible even if the desire to go see films is still there. Purely from a practical standpoint, the expenditure for the activity is out of the question. Even if cinemas started releasing and promoting all kinds of films from all genres and catering to all tastes, people would still not come simply because they can not afford to. Filmmakers that insist on releasing their films in the cinema, and lament the fall of their industry, fail to consider this factor. If they want their films to be seen in cinema, they must rally support for legislation that increases wages to help set off the rising costs. That's easier said than done, so empty posturing and bemoaning becomes the norm where no party understands the root problem, and the industry continues to wither away.

TV:

TV has become an essential in homes and has been for decades. The endless supply of entertainment and a variety of channels all at the push of a button is a massive factor in favour of in-home viewing. There are limitless free channels where people do not have to spend a penny entertaining themselves or leaving their houses. Now on top of that, streaming has changed the content delivery game. The expectations from in-home entertainment have evolved. TV content does not look like cheap soap operas produced on a dime. A bidding war from the biggest streaming giants and the race to get more content for their platforms has transformed the landscape. TV shows today are so well produced and grand in their ambition and scope that you can put them on a cinema screen, and they will look like they belong on the big screen. Moreover, the medium nurtures auteurs and showrunners with significant creative freedom, resulting in groundbreaking and bold shows in their narrative. The biggest stars of the cinema are now flocking to the small screen because that's where storytelling is flourishing. So you get a massive quantity of content and excellent quality at a price that puts the cinema ticket to shame. For the price of one ticket, you get thousands of shows from the comfort of your home. Cinema simply can not beat that.

Video Games:

Video gaming is flourishing like never before. Instead of being confined to a niche nerd circle, the medium's popularity has exploded to cover the masses. The gaming industry's revenue is bigger than Hollywood and the music industry combined, and it's only the beginning. Cutting-edge technologies like VR and the advancement in graphical technology are allowing the industry to create a sense of realism that's unparalleled. People of all ages are exploring the medium, and the industry is rapidly evolving and expanding at an unprecedented scale. Mobile gaming is the biggest gaming sector and reached a revenue of around 100 billion annually in 2021. Hollywood as an industry is notoriously slow to evolve. The gaming industry is evolving at such an astonishing pace that the growth here has already eclipsed the ancient Hollywood industry. The coming years will see the medium reach heights that Hollywood giants can not imagine, let alone compete with. 

Social Media:

If the cheap price point for access to television content has overtaken cinema, gaming has made it obsolete, and social media's arrival has crushed it to oblivion. The apps are essentially free, and the younger generation is being brought up with that as their primary source of entertainment. You do not need a TV; all the entertainment that will last you for a lifetime is now in your pocket. Cinema or any other conventional avenue for entertainment, like video games and TV, are not merely competing with one another but competing as a whole against social media. Last year more than 4 billion people were using social media, and that number is set to increase year over year. The people who are brought up on social media will never desire to entertain themselves in an antiquated way where you pay a considerable amount of money to sit with strangers and watch one film you may not like. They happily scroll through content; if a video is not catching their attention, a swipe of a finger takes them to the one they want for free. 

Like theatre, cinema will be a niche bringing a particular population segment to the screens on certain occasions. Once in a blue moon, a phenomenon will get people to cinema seats and then the industry will go back to catering to a small population to keep itself alive. It's not a bad thing. Industries rise and fall with time. You either evolve with time to survive or be content with being left behind. At this point, the time for incremental changes is far gone. Something truly drastic might give the industry a lease on life, but the fate is already written in stone. Even the unbeatable titans of their time return to the dust over time, making way for the new giants to rule. It's the way of life. The new giants are already here, and they are ruling.