Streaming and the pandemic force huge changes in the movie business

Overview

The segment uses the lead-up to the Oscars as a backdrop to examine how the pandemic and streaming have reshaped the movie business—hurting theaters, changing what studios greenlight, and concentrating box office success into a smaller number of big releases.

Key Points

• A theater family’s collapse shows the local impact of Hollywood’s shift: George Mitchell, from Niantic, Connecticut, describes how his family’s movie theater business declined sharply after the pandemic shut theaters down—despite demand weakening even before closures.

• Streaming is cited as accelerating theater decline: Entertainment journalist Matt Bellany argues that streaming and home entertainment make it harder for cinemas to sustain ticket revenue. He notes that customers increasingly buy large home TVs instead of going to the theater, and that ticket sales are down versus pre-pandemic levels, with smaller cinemas hit particularly hard.

• Box office outcomes after COVID are “strong but uneven”: Theaters may still profit, but results are concentrated. Bellany says the market has shifted toward fewer movies achieving bigger grosses—citing major franchise films such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, and Avatar: The Way of Water—while middle- and lower-tier films struggle.

• Studios favor safer bets (sequels/prequels), limiting variety: The report highlights that in 2022 all of the top 10 box office movies were sequels or prequels. This raises concerns that audiences looking for more adult, serious, or original films may find fewer of them getting a theatrical push.

• Content access offers opportunities even as theatrical culture erodes: Producer Rachel Winter suggests that while the old model—“big movie star = guaranteed hit”—has changed, streaming and greater access to production can still enable more varied storytelling.

• Call to action for preserving theater releases: Winter and Bellany both emphasize that if audiences want more grown-up films to play in theaters, they should go see them in cinemas rather than relying solely on at-home viewing.

• A local “happy ending” replaces the closed theater: In Niantic, the loss of one downtown theater is framed as partially offset by the Art House, which finds new life through the Niantic Bay Playhouse and the local troupe—helping keep “movie magic” alive in a different format.

• Viewers express mixed feelings: Participants acknowledge enjoying movies at home, but they lament losing the theater-going experience and certain independent film opportunities. They point to successes like Everything Everywhere All at Once as proof that different kinds of films can still win.

Presenters / Contributors

• George Mitchell
• Matt Bellany
• Rachel Winter
• Lilia (host / segment reporter)