Where Did the Audiences Go?
The lights start to dim, and the aroma of my popcorn permeates the theater as the trailers conclude, but something is off: Where is everyone? It is opening night of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” the hyped-up Marvel blockbuster of the summer, yet the theater is half empty. Sitting in the barren theater with only my buddies, I reminisce back to 2019, when “Avengers: Endgame” had the cinemas packed for weeks. “The Fantastic Four” was looking to be another smash at the box office. Fans were trading theories ahead of its release, the marketing was superb, the cast beloved, the reviews positive, but the seats were empty and the box office was underwhelmed.
The movie theater, which used to be my haven, has been reduced to a shadow of what it once was, and it is not because of “superhero fatigue,” as self-proclaimed film purists love to preach. Since 2020, the film-going experience has become more expensive and less convenient. More viewers would rather watch movies at home, where they sometimes only have to wait two weeks for the movie to be available on streaming services. While showing three to five movie trailers is a traditional buffer for the few people held up at concessions and a treat for those who’ve arrived, some movie theaters punish their customers for coming on time by making them endure thirty minutes of advertisements for upcoming films, Coca-Cola and Noovie. Once these ads conclude, the theater will advertise itself for an additional three minutes to make sure you remember where you are. Moviegoers are running out of reasons to attend the cinemas.
While the comforts of home-viewing and overly long and expensive theater experience contributes to declining attendance, lack of creativity on the part of film studios and theater releases also bear blame. It seems every month there’s a new “Ghostbusters” movie or a Disney live action re-release. Nostalgia is the driving force behind the creation of these films. It worked in the 2010s, with hits like “Beauty and the Beast” (2017) and “Aladdin” (2019), but now remakes alone seemingly won’t cut it. A good way for movie theaters to gain a broader audience would be to hone in on this thirst for nostalgia in a different way. Last year’s “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” re-release was the second highest grossing rerelease of all time. Large theaters, such as Regal or Cinemark, show a plethora of classics throughout the year; these shows have been doing surprisingly well in recent years.
In the last few years, box office scores demonstrate that every viewer has a genre that speaks to them. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” (2023), a nearly three hour cinematic rendering of her sixth tour, made an unexpected $267 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. In a totally different genre, “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” (2025), the first part of the conclusion of the Japanese anime, grossed $126 million domestic and $634 million worldwide. However, the diversity in interest doesn’t correspond to the variety of movie options, with screenings either being remakes, superhero films or indie releases, usually made by the film studio A24. While none of these are necessarily bad, they get tiring on a repeated cycle.
Not all of these new issues are in the theaters’ control, since streaming services capitalize on the convenience they have over the cinemas. In fact, the term “movie night” now has two different meanings: going to the theater or scrolling through the HBO Max film catalog to see what you’re interested in. When the opportunity arises for an already paid for movie night in the comfort of home, people will take it. Even if an individual does not have streaming options, there is usually a pirating website that has what they are looking for.
Viewers need a reason to go to the movies before they are available online. A good way to do so is to improve advertising for big releases, creating hype that motivates viewers to abandon the couch for the theater. For example, when “Spider-Man: No Way Home” came out in 2021, there was so much excitement for the movie that ticketing apps were forced to shut down as soon as tickets went on sale. Instagram and TikTok were buzzing about whether or not Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield would show up, so fans rushed to buy tickets for the soonest date possible. In the summer of 2023, the wild pairing of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” created “Barbenheimer,” which went viral online and had people fiercely debating which movie to watch first. In turn, they were both staggeringly successful.
There will always be bad movies, but this should not overshadow the many great films that deserve to be viewed in theaters. As we have seen in recent years, when moviegoers are given a real reason to leave the house, theater seats fill at a moment’s notice, even with the risk of the movie failing to live up to expectations. The movies need to be an experience again, an escape from the world. I’m patiently waiting for the next cinematic phenomenon to grace the silver screen – to smell the popcorn, hear the talking between trailers and to applaud after Nicole Kidman serenades us into the movie.
Photo Caption: People need a reason to go to the movies before they are available online.
Photo Credit: Kirill Foken / Unsplash
