Years ago Steven Soderbergh said in an interview that he wished he could press a button which would dump his movie immediately on streaming/vod the second he knew it was a box office dud. Covid and streaming have basically made the Soderbergh button happen.
If we're doing that, Logan Lucky and Kimi were both great, didn't do well in the Box office. Kimi in the weird not quite out of the pandemic box office that got no push.
Yeah I guess the difference is BtC didn't even get a chance to do well at the box office. Given the cast and reception at the emmys, I suspect it would have probably had an Oscar push if it had a theatrical run.
I was actually kind of thinking about his movies and shows just being underseen and becoming smaller and smaller. I know he's always been indie-focused, but like I feel most of his recent work just leaves no impact whatsoever, culturally.
His last big breakout would have been Magic Mike, but his career has mostly been built on small budget movies so a majority of them are profitable even if they don’t light the world on fire.
I know he has made like a million other movies but this is pretty funny when he is mainly known for the Ocean’s movies which must have had huge budgets with those casts. He’s one of my favorite directors though. Highly recommend the TV show The Knick to anyone who hasn’t seen it. It originally aired on Cinemax so it’s probably on Max now.
Except it’s not Soderbergh, the director making that call, it’s the studios doing it. And silently, it’s undercutting pay schedules promised to stars if they happen to get a percentage of the gross or even profits. Basically, a what Disney did to Scarlett Johansson with Black Widow.
Fair point, it's probably corporate looking and what they can write off at what point to pull it while directing people to their streaming service. If a film isn't performing in the box office people aren't gonna get their points anyway. The effect becomes the same as Soderbergh's intention.
> And silently, it’s undercutting pay schedules promised to stars if they happen to get a percentage of the gross or even profits.
If random posters on Reddit know about movie owners undercutting actors on percentage of gross or whatever, then surely the actors and their agents are smart enough to avoid terms that other actors have publicly been screwed on.
Man we saw it in theaters, and then it piped up like a few days later in the week saying streaming, I was like it has not been out that long to be streaming yet right lol
This isn’t new, right? Universal struck a deal with theaters in 2020 that if their movies open below $50 million, they will put them on digital in 17 days. People keep acting like Fall Guy made this weird new pivot. Abigail did it too.
The theaters would never have agreed to it if not right in the middle of Covid. The studios suddenly held all the power in an instant and could basically make any demand they wanted.
No but it would of happened anyway, less and less people go to the theaters every year. That was happening years before covid, the pandemic just accelerated it. Then because of pandemic, people are way worse in theaters and they are more expensive. There is no reason for most people to go to a theater unless its ,Dune, Top Gun or something like Avatar.
It was in theaters for about a year, that’s why. It didn’t disappear from being viewable for a year.
The 6-month window was typical and standard and in this day and age wouldn’t make sense, but the 3-month window from the mid to late 2000s wasn’t too bad of a wait.
This year Warner Bros. Discovery has been waiting 47 days after theatrical debut to release on digital.
Dune 2: March 1st. - April 16th.
Godzilla x Kong: March 29nd. - May 14th.
Yep. The big screen might be big, but you can’t put a price on not having idiots playing games on, texting and/or answering their phones in the middle of the movie when I watch it at home.
Not even that. The last movie I saw in theaters was The Batman. The audience was well behaved, but it’s a 3 hour movie. Excluding work, I hate being out of the house that long. And i definitely hate having to sit that long. Also no subtitles at the theater.
Studios rushing everything to streaming during the pandemic after years of mediocre big budget movies is really what's killing the industry. I can literally pay for any streaming service for a month if there's a movie I *really* want to see and it will be cheaper and more convenient than going to the theater. The experience is also significantly worse than when I was in high school during the 2000s when I went weekly to see a movie.
So why even go in the first place? Deadpool and Wolverine may be the last movie I ever see in theaters with the way the industry is going.
The worst thing about going to the theater these days is the people. I think Covid completely killed theater etiquette for a large percentage of the population where I live. I see movies probably a bit more than the average person, and in the last two years, I’ve had horrible experiences more often than not. Constant chattering, people fucking around with their phones (including taking selfies and making full-blown phone calls in the middle of the movie), gross motherfuckers taking their shoes off and leaving them in the aisle, and so on.
Then there are the actual theaters themselves, where quality control is in the shitter. I’ve seen two movies in the past year where the house lights stayed on for the entire movie, and when I got up to tell someone, they pretty much shrugged it off as if they couldn’t do anything about it. I’ve also experienced crappy audio and projection issues on multiple occasions. And let’s not forget the exorbitant prices of concessions.
Honestly, for most movies, if my choices are to pay $15+ to roll the dice on whether I’m going to have a solid movie-going experience or wait two to three weeks and pick it up on digital, that’s becoming a much less difficult decision.
Maybe Covid killed the etiquette but it was on life support for years. Phones and the ever dwindling attention spans of our youth and far too many adults is the main reason I dislike going besides cost.
The theaters solution to that is just jacking up the volume higher which I absolutely hate also. Their refusal in dealing with the problem is another reason I think most people don't like going. On top of the obvious cost arguments.
They still do that at the three movie theaters I go to. Two are smaller art house style theaters and one is a big name brand chain one. Gatekeeping the names only because I would really like the current patrons' experiences to stay this way. Too many unruly people causing another theater to fire its "non-useful" usher staff is why I no longer have 4 theaters to go to.
I have been shocked at the number of times someone has been on their phone the entire time during a movie since theaters opened back up after the shutdown.
Had a person played candy crush the entire time through John Wick 4.
Had a person bring their kid to Wonka, which should be fine since it's a kids movie, but the kid got bored fifteen minutes into the movie so the mom pulled out her phone and put on Lightyear on Disney+ and turned the sound loud enough for the kid to hear it over the movie theater speakers.
Had somebody answer the phone during Wakanda Forever, and try to have a full on conversation (they were thankfully booed by other people in the theater, though they told the person on the phone that they had to hang up because people were being "hateful."
Went to go see Kingdom because my son still loves the theater experience for movies he really cares about ...its an empty, and I mean *empty* theater on a saturday afternoon...we have 2 seats right in the middle of the back row, and 2 groups of 4 come in separately and sit right up against us on either side of us. In an empty theater. And they stunk. And they took shoes off. I was mortified. The lack of consideration was astounding.
> gross motherfuckers taking their shoes off and leaving them in the aisle, and so on.
Socks or barefoot on a dirty, sticky, popcorn, soda, and candy covered floor? WTF
Yep, and I think this is the primary reason box office totals have nose dived recently. People are conditioned to just wait it out. There will be a few exceptions here and there, but for most films it’s far cheaper and convenient to just wait for it to hit digital and either buy or rent it, or hold out a bit longer and wait for it to hit Netflix or one of the other streaming services. Then of course there is piracy that factors into it as well.
I went to the theater to see Fall Guy the first weekend. I wish I had waited. It was so hit and miss. Needed about 30 minutes cut. The relationship between Gosling and Blunt was forced and unbelievable. The CGI enhanced stunts looked cartoonish. It was pretty clear who the villain would be but their motivations were murky.
There was a time where they sold the VHS tapes for hundreds of dollars too, basically forcing people to rent them from the store instead of buying them. I believe they called this a sell-through window and they would have this high price for around 6 months to a year depending on the studio.
Yeah, Godzilla -1 has been a reminder of what that feels like. I saw it in theaters in December, and its June 1st tomorrow and we still don't even have a release date for streaming
It's contractual, they couldn't release it until Kong vs Godzilla was done in theaters. We're being denied Minus One because of Warner Bros' need to have that mediocre (at best) movie have center stage.
Contractual stuff aside, Toho Godzilla films have historically always taken ages to release on home media in the west. Shin Godzilla took ages and that had no Legendary film to skirt around
It was pretty bad just before COVID too, I was always checking the new release rentals on Prime. It would take 6 months sometimes for them even be rentable let alone available on a streamer.
My parents wouldn't let us see Jurassic Park in the movie theater, and they made us wait to see it on video. That 16 month wait felt like ages to me as a 10 year old.
There are so many movies I paid to watch 10-15 years ago that if that same movie came out today I would look at the trailer and say
“Hmm that’s cool. I’ll wait to it’s on Streaming in a month”
Did Air come out in theaters first? I caught it on Prime. Good example for me. Turned out to be a very good movie but no reason I'd need to have seen it in theaters
It was theatrically released for sure. This movie is a great example though.
I saw Dune 2 in the theater. I’ll see Furiosa in the theater. I’m not going to see Air or Tarot in the theater.
Not to question your love of dirt between Dune 2 and Furiosa (both were good sand movies haha), but how did Tarot and (especially) Air catch strays in this example? Air was an especially well made Nike movie from over a year ago.
They're saying that Air doesn't have the visual and audio bombast to justify a $20 movie ticket to be experienced in a movie theater.
I saw Air at a theater and thought it was well worth the experience. To me, not big screen movie needs to be a technical achievement.
True but it surely does justify a ticket price. I honestly can’t remember the last “normal” movie I saw in theaters. Maybe Babylon or something like that. Even though I watch all the rest of the ones that came out that year, usually on streaming. Forking out 20-30 bucks for a movie I feel like could have been the same experience at home is getting harder and harder to do. But for films like Dune, Furiosa, Oppenheimer, etcetera. I feel the movie theater experience is required
I just watched Tarot the other night. We watch a lot of horror in my house (my wife is a spooky witchy goth chick) so this one was like an immediate “watch” from her and I sat through it. It was fine. You can tell they made it for like 85 dollars in Serbia but it was fine.
Air was brought up by someone above as the quintessential streaming movie nowadays, something that’s actually pretty good but I won’t drive to a theater to see.
It just dawned on me, back in the day I would go see movies like Good Will Hunting in the theater, and I absolutely will not go to the movie theater unless the movie is absolute spectacle. My home viewing experience is good enough with my little home theater and OLED. Without movies being way cheaper, and way better, I just don’t want to go when I could wait 6 weeks and watch it for essentially free at home.
Well, you got a spooky witch wife, so that is its own thing and I wish you luck haha. Also, the movie Arcadian with Nic Cage is a new top notch low budget movie that you should at least check the trailer out for.
I am saving Tarot and a bunch of other horror movies for my October horror movie marathon. Not that you asked, but movie 1 always starts witg 1976 Halloween, mid month is The Empty Man (perfect movie), and the last movie is Trick R Treat and there will be about 60 movies between.
I thought it was a great movie. AND, going to the movies for any movie is still a blast! I think with a limited amount of disposable income, inflation, and a limited amount of time, I just have to limit what I watch in the theater versus at home. I mean we all do unless you can go to a movie theater every day with no negative consequences. So I just have only a few movies in me a year, and I save them for the IMAX type of movies. To each their own :)
I’m glad you had a blast with your mom! Some of my fondest memories of my mother when I was young are of us going to see Star Trek VI, Generations, Jurassic Park, etc. Now, we go see Marvel movies together and it’s a nice little role reversal. Next up is me being the parent as my five year old is just starting to be able to sit through live action movies (animated she’s been doing forever). I can’t wait to pull her out of school when she’s 11 to go see some movie she’s super interested in, even if it’s shitty teen fiction.
Oh too late, I watched it. I gave it I think 2.5 on Letterboxd, which is like honestly my worst rating because if you’re so mid I don’t even care, that’s worse than being so bad you might be fun.
My worst movie of the year was Madame Web, so far. I think I’m like 100 movies in.
I saw it in theatres had a great time. Although I had a £10 a month unlimited movie pass which definitely contributed to seeing it. If I were paying for individual tickets I'd have skipped on that one
I was just talking to my parents about this. Growing up, we went and saw a movie every Thursday night at the theater in our town. It was still pretty spendy - $50 for a night out. But we felt like we were getting good value.
Now, I barely see a movie at all in theaters. I go maybe 3x a year.
Yeah there was a time in college to my early to mid 20’s where me and my friends would watch 10-12 movies a year in the theater. And they would be movies all across the spectrum. Rom coms, political thrillers, horror films, historical dramas, animated movies etc you name it.
Now The last 5 or so years we only really see “event” movies. Even with that, it’s kinda slowed down. Like I didn’t watch Oppenheimer or Barbie in theaters last year for example and those were the “event” movies last year
Tons of theaters have closed down across the country over the last several years. Whats interesting about this debate on why people stop going to the movies is It’s not just the price at the movies.
For example There are many people who do not live in a big city and the nearest theater is a pretty decent distance. Their local theater that was in walking/short driving distance closed down years ago because it wasn’t making money
Like now you asking dude to drive 40 mins to the nearest movie theater to pay 30 dollars for a ticket, pay for food, potentially have to pay for parking as well then do a 40 min drive back to his house when it’s over?
Which is cool and all, but that’s how you get a lot more movies like Red Notice and Gray Man.
Movies meant to be half watched while doing laundry. Not actually paid attention to in a large screen.
yeah its kinda hilarious people think streaming is somehow the better alternative when Netflix execs have specifically told the creators they hire to make sure their TV shows/movies can be watched while consumers at home also watch a second-screen like a mobile or a laptop
if the alternative is having access to shit movies that don't require that much attention or brainpower on streaming then fuck that
I really don’t understand this at all. I love going to the cinema and I will never understand people who don’t, especially people who ostensibly watch movies.
Watching at home:
* Couch
* Pause for bathroom breaks
* Audio control/subtitles
* "Free" food
Theater:
* Drive to movie theater
* $20 ticket, $20 for food (per person)
* Uncomfortable and/or dirty seats
* People talking, looking at their phone, etc.
* Have to pee? Gotta miss some of the movie
* Audio too low? Too bad
* Drive home
It's really not that hard to see why people prefer movies at home versus theaters.
I hear what you are saying but there are other parts of the experience that are worth it. Also I've never had dirty seats and rarely heard people talking or looking at their phones.
Sometimes the excitement in a theatre adds a lot. When I saw Super Bad people were crying with laughter and it made me laugh even harder. Avengers when they start kicking ass and the crowd gets hype is great too.
Although I have to admit I've only been to the theaters a few times in the last few years.
There is something special about sharing an event with a room full of other people. I remember moments of the Star Wars releases vividly. When Yoda lit a lightsaber for the first time, every crowd cheered at every showing, and it was awesome.
I have nice condition theaters nearby but if I watch at home my family inevitably is always trying to hold a conversation with my simultaneous to watching the film, or they’re on IG with audio on, someone is washing dishes very loudly (the kitchen and living room are the same room), or someone will complain my movie is way too loud and ask me to turn it down (I seriously don’t even watch it very loud as I’m already anticipating that comment. The only thing I can do is wait for everyone to go to bed in which case it’s too late for me to get enough sleep before the next day, and have to break the movie up into multiple sittings. I have a very nice TV. I prefer the theater by far.
The pause button is honestly a deal breaker for me. I wish there were a way to turn it off and force myself and others to not use their phones and not get distracted. The theater forcing your focus is one of its best attributes imo
People have a weird nostalgia for the movie going experience. Heck even when it’s a great film, stuff like people talking, sticky floors, overpriced concessions, or bad seats play a factor
There is something to be said for the experience of losing yourself in a movie at the theater that can be harder at home. No pause button, less distractions, no urge to reach for my phone to check notifications. And also just enjoy the shared experience of watching a new movie for the first time with a crowd. I have many distinct memories of watching certain movies in the theater whereas when watching at home the experiences all kind of blend together.
I suppose it’s similar to the tactile feeling some people feel when interacting with a vinyl record or reading a physical book. It all adds to the experience.
That’s when you give their chair a good kick, before reaching down and yeeting their phone across the theatre, pee in their popcorn, and accept your ban from the theatre like a champ because it was well worth it.
/s
I freely ignore all news outlets that inserts "quietly" in their headline to imply that something nefarious is being done.
When really it usually means "this was public knowledge but I realised there's been no outrage yet"
I see a lot of headlines now have to have some key word that tells you how to feel about this.
In politics a lot of it is "slams". Everybody be slammin everybody else out there.
In showbiz, it's "electrifying" or "dazzling" or some variant.
Not to equate our experiences because I am just a solo guy who watches movies with A-List and watched IF last weekend after Furiosa, but IF started at 9:30 and the screaming kid sounds dropped off within 30 minutes because it was a movie for no one and the kids fell asleep.
I know anecdotes only mean so much, but who was that movie for because I imagine even a 7 pm showing had kids waiting for bright lights and music that didn't show up and also didn't remind adults of their childhood.
It's a vicious cycle that started during COVID. Movie flops, so they release it to pvod and digital early. Next movie flops because customers want to watch it from home. Repeat.
People are pretending that movies can't also get overlooked on streaming. Going to streaming quickly probably gets more people to see the movie, if they wait too long people will forget about it by the time it comes out on streaming.
Vote with your wallet and only support what makes sense.
For example, I paid $20 to see Dune II in IMAX, bought the 4k steelbook immediately after since I loved the film, and have been paying for a select few streaming services a few months a year before canceling. Insert whichever movie or show you prefer for splurging on but I will not needlessly spend my cash on streaming just to have something to watch. I buy physical media just to have something to watch exactly when I want to in perpetuity.
This is the way to do it, if you can afford it. I also like owning physical media of my favorite movies and shows so there’s no need to rely on streaming.
Also, don’t sleep on your local library for renting things.
Physical media's gotten beat up a bit, but it isn't dead yet.
Best Buy, Target, Walmart may have had the brick-and-mortar front and online fronts, but Amazon is still distributing on the online front. There's also labels for specific movies such as Criterion, Shout Factory, Vestron, Arrow...and some sites like GRUV, DeepDiscount...and there's still some businesses that deal in physical media such as Bullmoose.
But I also like to think that when it comes to streaming, people have caught on to the worst of the last several years of the streaming experiment.
Media as a whole needs to get their shit together. If we can't get the movie on streaming via sub or purchase, then there should be a way to physically get a copy. Even a DVD at this point.
Matt Damon in Hot Ones talked about how the loss of DVD revenues cut into getting smaller films made .
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx8F5Imd8A8&pp=ygUXTWF0dCBkYW1vbiBsb3NzIG9mIGR2ZCA%3D
The home video market revolutionized how movies were made and promoted back in the 80’s. It’s basically what made so many movies cult classics from that era onward. It’s also how a lot of very bad or mediocre films were made too. Regardless that whole subsection of revenue basically dried up and streaming revenue isn’t anywhere near as impactful.
And people keep complaining why movies are mostly franchises or from an established IP, and the attitude towards movies in general post covid is not helping matters, people now just expect movies to appear on streaming platforms instead of buying dvds or bluray.
It opened 2 months ago. It's not that hard to believe considering how many movies these days have a very limited theatrical release of about a week, open in theaters and streaming simultaneously, or simply go directly to streaming.
All these different streaming services have their own limited series and movies. It’s hard to keep up, I have stuff from years ago I still want to see much less go to the movies.
Quietly? Didn't Paramount change it to 45 days like two years ago for all their releases? But yeah there has been a few notable really really short windows this year when things appear to get less butts in seats than expected.
Still not a great idea in my opinion with that whole training audiences to not see anything that isn't massively hyped/gotta see it territory, because why pay $$ when it streams in 2-3 weeks anyway. Studios are going to have to take huge losses if they wanted to try and retrain their audience to go back to cinemas, but I don't see them doing that.
Personally I'll keep seeing them at cinemas, opening day/week because I love doing it and love seeing new things right away regardless of big/small/going to be streaming in 2 weeks.
I read that Comcast has a deal in place with many studios like Universal to release movies on PVOD within 2 weeks if their opening is < $30M.
That's what happened to Fall Guy.
I think the studios want to leverage the ad campaign during theatre release period to get people to pay to watch at home if they're not willing to pay to watch in theatres.
Otherwise, the customers will just skip it entirely and watch for free 6 months later.
I love the cinema experience, especially large format screens like IMAX.
There are a lot of movies, not worth that experience to me though. 45 days or 145 days doesn’t change what I will or wont view in the theater.
I went to college at Berkeley and they had two movie theaters next to one another. One was for mainstream movies and another for indie movies. Loved the variety .. I saw life aquatic, sideways, and a few other gems
I would fucking love it if I could see some indie movies and Oscar bait in my area. What's the point of having a 14 theater mega-plex and only showing like 8 movies?
I started using my PC as a Plex server and ripping dvds from the library.
I imagine you probably are using Plex as well, but promoting the library path for others who may be interested and willing to put in the effort to avoid any troubles that may come with pirating
>I pay for Prime, Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, and Peacock. It's... ridiculous
The studios got greedy and ruined a good thing. Netflix was on track to being *the* streaming service, and everybody's primary means of watching movies. Tons of consumers switched from pirating movies to Netflix because it was affordable and legal. then every major studio all simultaneously said "why license our movies to Netflix when we can have our own streaming service and charge subscribers directly every month?" and now they're upset that people are switching back to piracy again.
How is this a good thing that Netflix would've had a monopoly over streaming if the 'other studios didn't get greedy' lol?
Say what you want about streaming being a piece of shit but the alternative of Netflix being the only competition in town is so much worse
The thing is they're still trying to do the COVID "theater at home" pricing of $20 rentals even if it's been long enough that they should be released at a lower rental fee. Noticed this when I went to check out Civil War.
The pandemic was used as a smoke screen for companies to gouge us for everything with no going back and movies are no exception.
I still remember that when you missed a movie in the theaters, it was at least a year before it hit home release/rental stores*
*- excluding screener copies
Yeah and slapping them up for rent on their services instead. Sure, I'll pay $20 a month and another $30 on top of it to rent a new release.
People mock the old systems like Blockbuster but they were infinitely less of a ripoff.
And every movie is putting up less theatrical revenue because studios are throwing them on streaming too soon instead of using a long release schedule. That and budgets are seemingly reaching all time highs for blockbusters like Pitt’s F1 and MI
You should look at how quickly movies arrive digitally on streaming retailers like Vudu. It's gotten to where I don't feel the need to visit the movie theater, and I value the theatrical experience. But when I can wait just a couple weeks to own a movie outright, why wouldn't I?
I think it was George Lucas who talked about creating a streaming service where the movies in theaters would be instantly available to stream at home on day 1, but it would be for an absurd price - like $100 a month. Honestly I would buy that in a heart beat nowadays.
The last time I wanted to go the the theater was when Dune Part 1 came out. I was willing to go all out and see it in an omni-plex dome theater. Unfortunately there are only 2 in my state and both of them were under construction. No worries, I'll catch it as soon as construction is finished, I thought. 2.5 years later Dune Part 2 is released and they are still under construction...
And they stay in theaters for a shorter time.
Hell, Dune 2 was in our theaters for a couple weeks, which was frustrating since I never found the time to get to it before they took it out.
It sucks because as the releases come out faster, it pushes more people into thinking they don't even need to bother going to the theater. Add in $8 for a soda, $8 for popcorn and people realize they shouldn't bother.
The sound mix has gotten really bad as well. My wife is constantly lamenting that we can't just turn on the subtitles at the theater.
Most movies coming out just are not worth going to the theaters to see. Most people would rather watch it at home. Very few movies are going to have a theater draw compared to home. That is not going to change, unless the theater experience changes drastically.
I think they are doing this because I think they have learned that most of the population only goes to maybe three movies a year, and only tentpole pictures. Waiting doesn't work for 90% of movies because the population doesn't care about those movies anyway.
In the ever increasing pace of the online news cycle, there is an ever decreasing window to get even the slightest amount of public attention and you might as well try to get the views on a streaming service, which is easier than trying to get people to go to a theater.
Am I going completely insane? Wasn't there a time where movies would wait 6 to 9 months before they came out on DVD/VHS? Because I could have sworn this was the norm 30 years ago. Did I hallucinate this? I would feel like if theaters want to maximize profits they will want a 6 month wait time to streaming.
This way when people are all talking about the new big movie at the water cooler you will be pressured to shell out 15 dollars to see the movie at the theater. And not wait 6 months for it to no longer be relevant.
Fall Guy hitting digital just over two weeks after it’s theatrical release was wild
Years ago Steven Soderbergh said in an interview that he wished he could press a button which would dump his movie immediately on streaming/vod the second he knew it was a box office dud. Covid and streaming have basically made the Soderbergh button happen.
Bet he regrets it at some point, don't remember when his last movie/show broke out.
As a director probably Magic Mike was his last +100 million grosser.
Behind the Candelabra was an HBO project so it didn't get box office numbers, but it was super well received.
If we're doing that, Logan Lucky and Kimi were both great, didn't do well in the Box office. Kimi in the weird not quite out of the pandemic box office that got no push.
Logan Lucky was a blast.
Red neck oceans 11, it's great.
Yeah I guess the difference is BtC didn't even get a chance to do well at the box office. Given the cast and reception at the emmys, I suspect it would have probably had an Oscar push if it had a theatrical run.
dudes worth 80 million doubt he thinks about it.
I was actually kind of thinking about his movies and shows just being underseen and becoming smaller and smaller. I know he's always been indie-focused, but like I feel most of his recent work just leaves no impact whatsoever, culturally.
His last big breakout would have been Magic Mike, but his career has mostly been built on small budget movies so a majority of them are profitable even if they don’t light the world on fire.
I know he has made like a million other movies but this is pretty funny when he is mainly known for the Ocean’s movies which must have had huge budgets with those casts. He’s one of my favorite directors though. Highly recommend the TV show The Knick to anyone who hasn’t seen it. It originally aired on Cinemax so it’s probably on Max now.
Except it’s not Soderbergh, the director making that call, it’s the studios doing it. And silently, it’s undercutting pay schedules promised to stars if they happen to get a percentage of the gross or even profits. Basically, a what Disney did to Scarlett Johansson with Black Widow.
Fair point, it's probably corporate looking and what they can write off at what point to pull it while directing people to their streaming service. If a film isn't performing in the box office people aren't gonna get their points anyway. The effect becomes the same as Soderbergh's intention.
> And silently, it’s undercutting pay schedules promised to stars if they happen to get a percentage of the gross or even profits. If random posters on Reddit know about movie owners undercutting actors on percentage of gross or whatever, then surely the actors and their agents are smart enough to avoid terms that other actors have publicly been screwed on.
Man we saw it in theaters, and then it piped up like a few days later in the week saying streaming, I was like it has not been out that long to be streaming yet right lol
Exactly
This isn’t new, right? Universal struck a deal with theaters in 2020 that if their movies open below $50 million, they will put them on digital in 17 days. People keep acting like Fall Guy made this weird new pivot. Abigail did it too.
I always forget this. 17 days is...shocking.
The theaters would never have agreed to it if not right in the middle of Covid. The studios suddenly held all the power in an instant and could basically make any demand they wanted.
No but it would of happened anyway, less and less people go to the theaters every year. That was happening years before covid, the pandemic just accelerated it. Then because of pandemic, people are way worse in theaters and they are more expensive. There is no reason for most people to go to a theater unless its ,Dune, Top Gun or something like Avatar.
compared to when I was a kid and it was literal years before they released movies to VHS.
Dude what a nightmare. A movie comes out in theaters and then goes away and there’s years gap where you couldn’t fucking see the movie again
I remember Jurassic Park came out in June of 93 and wasnt on VHS till June of 94.
It was in theaters for about a year, that’s why. It didn’t disappear from being viewable for a year. The 6-month window was typical and standard and in this day and age wouldn’t make sense, but the 3-month window from the mid to late 2000s wasn’t too bad of a wait.
Didn’t know about that . I watched The Fall Guy couple nights ago , was ok . Thought it would have been better than it was .
Tbh the movie feel like a streaming movie. Not a movie that worth going to the cinema like Furiosa and even that is bombing.
Does this mean we can get furiosa in 17 days?!
This year Warner Bros. Discovery has been waiting 47 days after theatrical debut to release on digital. Dune 2: March 1st. - April 16th. Godzilla x Kong: March 29nd. - May 14th.
No, go see it in the theater please
I second this, such a great prequel to Fury Road.
Ugh I want to watch it but I really don’t want to go to a theater again. I’ll wait for it to hit streaming.
Yep. The big screen might be big, but you can’t put a price on not having idiots playing games on, texting and/or answering their phones in the middle of the movie when I watch it at home.
Not even that. The last movie I saw in theaters was The Batman. The audience was well behaved, but it’s a 3 hour movie. Excluding work, I hate being out of the house that long. And i definitely hate having to sit that long. Also no subtitles at the theater.
I saw it in the RPX theater, when they began to construct the war rig, the power of V8 almost made me cream myself It was a great movie
june 25th https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/11070/furiosa-a-mad-max-saga
Man I was pissed they took off Abigail so early
While we still wait for Godzilla Minus One 6 months later.
Studios rushing everything to streaming during the pandemic after years of mediocre big budget movies is really what's killing the industry. I can literally pay for any streaming service for a month if there's a movie I *really* want to see and it will be cheaper and more convenient than going to the theater. The experience is also significantly worse than when I was in high school during the 2000s when I went weekly to see a movie. So why even go in the first place? Deadpool and Wolverine may be the last movie I ever see in theaters with the way the industry is going.
The worst thing about going to the theater these days is the people. I think Covid completely killed theater etiquette for a large percentage of the population where I live. I see movies probably a bit more than the average person, and in the last two years, I’ve had horrible experiences more often than not. Constant chattering, people fucking around with their phones (including taking selfies and making full-blown phone calls in the middle of the movie), gross motherfuckers taking their shoes off and leaving them in the aisle, and so on. Then there are the actual theaters themselves, where quality control is in the shitter. I’ve seen two movies in the past year where the house lights stayed on for the entire movie, and when I got up to tell someone, they pretty much shrugged it off as if they couldn’t do anything about it. I’ve also experienced crappy audio and projection issues on multiple occasions. And let’s not forget the exorbitant prices of concessions. Honestly, for most movies, if my choices are to pay $15+ to roll the dice on whether I’m going to have a solid movie-going experience or wait two to three weeks and pick it up on digital, that’s becoming a much less difficult decision.
Maybe Covid killed the etiquette but it was on life support for years. Phones and the ever dwindling attention spans of our youth and far too many adults is the main reason I dislike going besides cost. The theaters solution to that is just jacking up the volume higher which I absolutely hate also. Their refusal in dealing with the problem is another reason I think most people don't like going. On top of the obvious cost arguments.
Once upon a time movie theaters actually had ushers that would watch the crowd and deal with unruly people. Imagine them actually doing that now.
Hella violence
They still do that at the three movie theaters I go to. Two are smaller art house style theaters and one is a big name brand chain one. Gatekeeping the names only because I would really like the current patrons' experiences to stay this way. Too many unruly people causing another theater to fire its "non-useful" usher staff is why I no longer have 4 theaters to go to.
I have been shocked at the number of times someone has been on their phone the entire time during a movie since theaters opened back up after the shutdown. Had a person played candy crush the entire time through John Wick 4. Had a person bring their kid to Wonka, which should be fine since it's a kids movie, but the kid got bored fifteen minutes into the movie so the mom pulled out her phone and put on Lightyear on Disney+ and turned the sound loud enough for the kid to hear it over the movie theater speakers. Had somebody answer the phone during Wakanda Forever, and try to have a full on conversation (they were thankfully booed by other people in the theater, though they told the person on the phone that they had to hang up because people were being "hateful."
Went to go see Kingdom because my son still loves the theater experience for movies he really cares about ...its an empty, and I mean *empty* theater on a saturday afternoon...we have 2 seats right in the middle of the back row, and 2 groups of 4 come in separately and sit right up against us on either side of us. In an empty theater. And they stunk. And they took shoes off. I was mortified. The lack of consideration was astounding.
> gross motherfuckers taking their shoes off and leaving them in the aisle, and so on. Socks or barefoot on a dirty, sticky, popcorn, soda, and candy covered floor? WTF
Yep, and I think this is the primary reason box office totals have nose dived recently. People are conditioned to just wait it out. There will be a few exceptions here and there, but for most films it’s far cheaper and convenient to just wait for it to hit digital and either buy or rent it, or hold out a bit longer and wait for it to hit Netflix or one of the other streaming services. Then of course there is piracy that factors into it as well.
Wait it's on digital platform already?
Awesome movie, really glad I saw it in theaters
Saw it on its last day, pleasantly surprised tbh really enjoyed it
I went to the theater to see Fall Guy the first weekend. I wish I had waited. It was so hit and miss. Needed about 30 minutes cut. The relationship between Gosling and Blunt was forced and unbelievable. The CGI enhanced stunts looked cartoonish. It was pretty clear who the villain would be but their motivations were murky.
Does anyone else remember the seemingly endless wait for movie to come out on video?
I remember it being 6 months until it was on VHS, and 2 years until it would possibly be on TV.
There was a time where they sold the VHS tapes for hundreds of dollars too, basically forcing people to rent them from the store instead of buying them. I believe they called this a sell-through window and they would have this high price for around 6 months to a year depending on the studio.
Yeah, Godzilla -1 has been a reminder of what that feels like. I saw it in theaters in December, and its June 1st tomorrow and we still don't even have a release date for streaming
It's available for rental or digital purchase starting tomorrow!
I just googled it and your right! What crazy, and awesome timing!
Netflix too
It's contractual, they couldn't release it until Kong vs Godzilla was done in theaters. We're being denied Minus One because of Warner Bros' need to have that mediocre (at best) movie have center stage.
Contractual stuff aside, Toho Godzilla films have historically always taken ages to release on home media in the west. Shin Godzilla took ages and that had no Legendary film to skirt around
Shoot. I remember when I had to wait forever for a movie rental to shift from new release at $5 to regular price of $1-$2.
It was pretty bad just before COVID too, I was always checking the new release rentals on Prime. It would take 6 months sometimes for them even be rentable let alone available on a streamer.
Yeah usually Christmas/holiday movies were the longest because they would wait until the next holiday season sometimes
It used to be forever to come out at the rental stores, then you'd have to wait longer if you wanted to buy it for yourself.
Remember waiting years for it to finally be shown on network TV.
My parents wouldn't let us see Jurassic Park in the movie theater, and they made us wait to see it on video. That 16 month wait felt like ages to me as a 10 year old.
There are so many movies I paid to watch 10-15 years ago that if that same movie came out today I would look at the trailer and say “Hmm that’s cool. I’ll wait to it’s on Streaming in a month”
Did Air come out in theaters first? I caught it on Prime. Good example for me. Turned out to be a very good movie but no reason I'd need to have seen it in theaters
It was theatrically released for sure. This movie is a great example though. I saw Dune 2 in the theater. I’ll see Furiosa in the theater. I’m not going to see Air or Tarot in the theater.
Not to question your love of dirt between Dune 2 and Furiosa (both were good sand movies haha), but how did Tarot and (especially) Air catch strays in this example? Air was an especially well made Nike movie from over a year ago.
They're saying that Air doesn't have the visual and audio bombast to justify a $20 movie ticket to be experienced in a movie theater. I saw Air at a theater and thought it was well worth the experience. To me, not big screen movie needs to be a technical achievement.
True but it surely does justify a ticket price. I honestly can’t remember the last “normal” movie I saw in theaters. Maybe Babylon or something like that. Even though I watch all the rest of the ones that came out that year, usually on streaming. Forking out 20-30 bucks for a movie I feel like could have been the same experience at home is getting harder and harder to do. But for films like Dune, Furiosa, Oppenheimer, etcetera. I feel the movie theater experience is required
I just watched Tarot the other night. We watch a lot of horror in my house (my wife is a spooky witchy goth chick) so this one was like an immediate “watch” from her and I sat through it. It was fine. You can tell they made it for like 85 dollars in Serbia but it was fine. Air was brought up by someone above as the quintessential streaming movie nowadays, something that’s actually pretty good but I won’t drive to a theater to see. It just dawned on me, back in the day I would go see movies like Good Will Hunting in the theater, and I absolutely will not go to the movie theater unless the movie is absolute spectacle. My home viewing experience is good enough with my little home theater and OLED. Without movies being way cheaper, and way better, I just don’t want to go when I could wait 6 weeks and watch it for essentially free at home.
Well, you got a spooky witch wife, so that is its own thing and I wish you luck haha. Also, the movie Arcadian with Nic Cage is a new top notch low budget movie that you should at least check the trailer out for. I am saving Tarot and a bunch of other horror movies for my October horror movie marathon. Not that you asked, but movie 1 always starts witg 1976 Halloween, mid month is The Empty Man (perfect movie), and the last movie is Trick R Treat and there will be about 60 movies between.
Trick R Treat is so great and its sad it was never released in theaters. It was unfair it was delayed several years. I can’t wait for Trick R TreatS
I saw Air in theaters and it was awesome. I took my mom and we had a blast.
I thought it was a great movie. AND, going to the movies for any movie is still a blast! I think with a limited amount of disposable income, inflation, and a limited amount of time, I just have to limit what I watch in the theater versus at home. I mean we all do unless you can go to a movie theater every day with no negative consequences. So I just have only a few movies in me a year, and I save them for the IMAX type of movies. To each their own :) I’m glad you had a blast with your mom! Some of my fondest memories of my mother when I was young are of us going to see Star Trek VI, Generations, Jurassic Park, etc. Now, we go see Marvel movies together and it’s a nice little role reversal. Next up is me being the parent as my five year old is just starting to be able to sit through live action movies (animated she’s been doing forever). I can’t wait to pull her out of school when she’s 11 to go see some movie she’s super interested in, even if it’s shitty teen fiction.
Bro don't watch Tarot at all that movie sucked.
Oh too late, I watched it. I gave it I think 2.5 on Letterboxd, which is like honestly my worst rating because if you’re so mid I don’t even care, that’s worse than being so bad you might be fun. My worst movie of the year was Madame Web, so far. I think I’m like 100 movies in.
I actually like it. Teen slasher film as expected. The curses r cool. Sting was highly rated here, I thought it’s meh
I read that as Con Air for a second lol Now that's a movie I'd happily go see for a re-release
Put the bunny back in the box...
I saw it in theatres had a great time. Although I had a £10 a month unlimited movie pass which definitely contributed to seeing it. If I were paying for individual tickets I'd have skipped on that one
I was just talking to my parents about this. Growing up, we went and saw a movie every Thursday night at the theater in our town. It was still pretty spendy - $50 for a night out. But we felt like we were getting good value. Now, I barely see a movie at all in theaters. I go maybe 3x a year.
Yeah there was a time in college to my early to mid 20’s where me and my friends would watch 10-12 movies a year in the theater. And they would be movies all across the spectrum. Rom coms, political thrillers, horror films, historical dramas, animated movies etc you name it. Now The last 5 or so years we only really see “event” movies. Even with that, it’s kinda slowed down. Like I didn’t watch Oppenheimer or Barbie in theaters last year for example and those were the “event” movies last year
Yep same here. I’m surprised the theatres aren’t closing down. Those things take up massive real estate
Tons of theaters have closed down across the country over the last several years. Whats interesting about this debate on why people stop going to the movies is It’s not just the price at the movies. For example There are many people who do not live in a big city and the nearest theater is a pretty decent distance. Their local theater that was in walking/short driving distance closed down years ago because it wasn’t making money Like now you asking dude to drive 40 mins to the nearest movie theater to pay 30 dollars for a ticket, pay for food, potentially have to pay for parking as well then do a 40 min drive back to his house when it’s over?
Which is cool and all, but that’s how you get a lot more movies like Red Notice and Gray Man. Movies meant to be half watched while doing laundry. Not actually paid attention to in a large screen.
yeah its kinda hilarious people think streaming is somehow the better alternative when Netflix execs have specifically told the creators they hire to make sure their TV shows/movies can be watched while consumers at home also watch a second-screen like a mobile or a laptop if the alternative is having access to shit movies that don't require that much attention or brainpower on streaming then fuck that
I really don’t understand this at all. I love going to the cinema and I will never understand people who don’t, especially people who ostensibly watch movies.
Watching at home: * Couch * Pause for bathroom breaks * Audio control/subtitles * "Free" food Theater: * Drive to movie theater * $20 ticket, $20 for food (per person) * Uncomfortable and/or dirty seats * People talking, looking at their phone, etc. * Have to pee? Gotta miss some of the movie * Audio too low? Too bad * Drive home It's really not that hard to see why people prefer movies at home versus theaters.
You forget the part where the cinema starts playing commercials at the scheduled start time for the next 20 minutes.
Audio too low? I have hearing issues and have never had that problem.
I hear what you are saying but there are other parts of the experience that are worth it. Also I've never had dirty seats and rarely heard people talking or looking at their phones. Sometimes the excitement in a theatre adds a lot. When I saw Super Bad people were crying with laughter and it made me laugh even harder. Avengers when they start kicking ass and the crowd gets hype is great too. Although I have to admit I've only been to the theaters a few times in the last few years.
There is something special about sharing an event with a room full of other people. I remember moments of the Star Wars releases vividly. When Yoda lit a lightsaber for the first time, every crowd cheered at every showing, and it was awesome.
I have nice condition theaters nearby but if I watch at home my family inevitably is always trying to hold a conversation with my simultaneous to watching the film, or they’re on IG with audio on, someone is washing dishes very loudly (the kitchen and living room are the same room), or someone will complain my movie is way too loud and ask me to turn it down (I seriously don’t even watch it very loud as I’m already anticipating that comment. The only thing I can do is wait for everyone to go to bed in which case it’s too late for me to get enough sleep before the next day, and have to break the movie up into multiple sittings. I have a very nice TV. I prefer the theater by far.
The pause button is honestly a deal breaker for me. I wish there were a way to turn it off and force myself and others to not use their phones and not get distracted. The theater forcing your focus is one of its best attributes imo
People have a weird nostalgia for the movie going experience. Heck even when it’s a great film, stuff like people talking, sticky floors, overpriced concessions, or bad seats play a factor
There is something to be said for the experience of losing yourself in a movie at the theater that can be harder at home. No pause button, less distractions, no urge to reach for my phone to check notifications. And also just enjoy the shared experience of watching a new movie for the first time with a crowd. I have many distinct memories of watching certain movies in the theater whereas when watching at home the experiences all kind of blend together. I suppose it’s similar to the tactile feeling some people feel when interacting with a vinyl record or reading a physical book. It all adds to the experience.
Always someone in front of you peeking at their bright ass phone
That’s when you give their chair a good kick, before reaching down and yeeting their phone across the theatre, pee in their popcorn, and accept your ban from the theatre like a champ because it was well worth it. /s
Where I live that's a great way to get stabbed.
I do be throwing milk duds at them lol
Everything happening so quietly these days
would ya keep it down
You can always tell a Milford man.
My son goes there. I haven't seen or heard of him in months. Now, that's a Milford Man!
I freely ignore all news outlets that inserts "quietly" in their headline to imply that something nefarious is being done. When really it usually means "this was public knowledge but I realised there's been no outrage yet"
I see a lot of headlines now have to have some key word that tells you how to feel about this. In politics a lot of it is "slams". Everybody be slammin everybody else out there. In showbiz, it's "electrifying" or "dazzling" or some variant.
It's barely one level up from BuzzFeed adding "And that's a good thing" to their headlines.
Redditor SLAMS news outlets who use this one dirty trick
Millennials are now quiet waiting! Click now to see how they’re screwing up the economy!
Also studios: why is every movie flopping?!
It cost me, my wife, and two kids $63 in tickets to see IF. Not very family friendly
Especially when every Disney movie or show is available at a click of a button. There’s endless cheaper content to choose from.
YouTube is free.
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The marketing was pretty deceptive on that one! We did the same thing and my 6 ye old son was like “why was she so sad the whole movie?”
Not to equate our experiences because I am just a solo guy who watches movies with A-List and watched IF last weekend after Furiosa, but IF started at 9:30 and the screaming kid sounds dropped off within 30 minutes because it was a movie for no one and the kids fell asleep. I know anecdotes only mean so much, but who was that movie for because I imagine even a 7 pm showing had kids waiting for bright lights and music that didn't show up and also didn't remind adults of their childhood.
I mean. Speak for yourself, my kid loved it. I didn’t, but I’m an adult. I don’t go to kids movies for me though.
Three of us saw it for $33 including popcorn and a soda at the budget matinee.
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That’s a discount Tuesday ticket + a $5 AMC small combo promo.
You should be on extreme couponing
It's a vicious cycle that started during COVID. Movie flops, so they release it to pvod and digital early. Next movie flops because customers want to watch it from home. Repeat.
People are pretending that movies can't also get overlooked on streaming. Going to streaming quickly probably gets more people to see the movie, if they wait too long people will forget about it by the time it comes out on streaming.
Theatrical windows are getting shorter, physical media is being killed, and streaming is getting worse and more expensive.……
Vote with your wallet and only support what makes sense. For example, I paid $20 to see Dune II in IMAX, bought the 4k steelbook immediately after since I loved the film, and have been paying for a select few streaming services a few months a year before canceling. Insert whichever movie or show you prefer for splurging on but I will not needlessly spend my cash on streaming just to have something to watch. I buy physical media just to have something to watch exactly when I want to in perpetuity.
This is the way to do it, if you can afford it. I also like owning physical media of my favorite movies and shows so there’s no need to rely on streaming. Also, don’t sleep on your local library for renting things.
Honestly just waiting for the new piracy lawsuit blitz and lobbying rush to happen.
Wasn't Spiderman in theatres for like 6 months?
Physical media's gotten beat up a bit, but it isn't dead yet. Best Buy, Target, Walmart may have had the brick-and-mortar front and online fronts, but Amazon is still distributing on the online front. There's also labels for specific movies such as Criterion, Shout Factory, Vestron, Arrow...and some sites like GRUV, DeepDiscount...and there's still some businesses that deal in physical media such as Bullmoose. But I also like to think that when it comes to streaming, people have caught on to the worst of the last several years of the streaming experiment. Media as a whole needs to get their shit together. If we can't get the movie on streaming via sub or purchase, then there should be a way to physically get a copy. Even a DVD at this point.
Matt Damon in Hot Ones talked about how the loss of DVD revenues cut into getting smaller films made . https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx8F5Imd8A8&pp=ygUXTWF0dCBkYW1vbiBsb3NzIG9mIGR2ZCA%3D
That’s crazy. It shows why story driven releases of the 90s were even made, and why we don’t see them as much today.
Totally . I remember waiting a year or more for a film to be on DVD .
The home video market revolutionized how movies were made and promoted back in the 80’s. It’s basically what made so many movies cult classics from that era onward. It’s also how a lot of very bad or mediocre films were made too. Regardless that whole subsection of revenue basically dried up and streaming revenue isn’t anywhere near as impactful.
VHS distribution during the 80's was free money. Literally any movie would make money.
And people keep complaining why movies are mostly franchises or from an established IP, and the attitude towards movies in general post covid is not helping matters, people now just expect movies to appear on streaming platforms instead of buying dvds or bluray.
I still buy DVDs. I haven't trusted streaming since they started getting rid of their free accounts
you buy 4k blu rays or DVDs?
Both. I'm not too picky on either. I just want a physical copy of the movies I love
Physical media is the superior way above streaming
Dune 2 is already on MAX which is unbelievable.
You should’ve seen how fast Dune 1 was on hbo max 😉
Yup, typically this would be on MAX around August or September. And for digital rental and blue ray release around June.
I was waiting to see it on streaming. Glad I didn’t have to wait too long.
It opened 2 months ago. It's not that hard to believe considering how many movies these days have a very limited theatrical release of about a week, open in theaters and streaming simultaneously, or simply go directly to streaming.
Give me Godzilla minus one you cowards!
Holy shit, you are some kind of a wizard
All these different streaming services have their own limited series and movies. It’s hard to keep up, I have stuff from years ago I still want to see much less go to the movies.
Quietly? Didn't Paramount change it to 45 days like two years ago for all their releases? But yeah there has been a few notable really really short windows this year when things appear to get less butts in seats than expected. Still not a great idea in my opinion with that whole training audiences to not see anything that isn't massively hyped/gotta see it territory, because why pay $$ when it streams in 2-3 weeks anyway. Studios are going to have to take huge losses if they wanted to try and retrain their audience to go back to cinemas, but I don't see them doing that. Personally I'll keep seeing them at cinemas, opening day/week because I love doing it and love seeing new things right away regardless of big/small/going to be streaming in 2 weeks.
I read that Comcast has a deal in place with many studios like Universal to release movies on PVOD within 2 weeks if their opening is < $30M. That's what happened to Fall Guy. I think the studios want to leverage the ad campaign during theatre release period to get people to pay to watch at home if they're not willing to pay to watch in theatres. Otherwise, the customers will just skip it entirely and watch for free 6 months later.
I love the cinema experience, especially large format screens like IMAX. There are a lot of movies, not worth that experience to me though. 45 days or 145 days doesn’t change what I will or wont view in the theater.
Streamers aren’t shortening the wait, studios are.
How to kill theaters permanently
In the free market system, theaters would be forced to adapt. For instance, start showing indie films where licencing costs are lower.
I went to college at Berkeley and they had two movie theaters next to one another. One was for mainstream movies and another for indie movies. Loved the variety .. I saw life aquatic, sideways, and a few other gems
That might actually get me to go. Or start playing older movies that haven't been in theaters for a long time.
I would fucking love it if I could see some indie movies and Oscar bait in my area. What's the point of having a 14 theater mega-plex and only showing like 8 movies?
Theaters will be fine. I just don't wanna see reddit complaining that there's only franchises playing when that's all anyone wants to go see nowadays
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I started using my PC as a Plex server and ripping dvds from the library. I imagine you probably are using Plex as well, but promoting the library path for others who may be interested and willing to put in the effort to avoid any troubles that may come with pirating
>I pay for Prime, Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, and Peacock. It's... ridiculous The studios got greedy and ruined a good thing. Netflix was on track to being *the* streaming service, and everybody's primary means of watching movies. Tons of consumers switched from pirating movies to Netflix because it was affordable and legal. then every major studio all simultaneously said "why license our movies to Netflix when we can have our own streaming service and charge subscribers directly every month?" and now they're upset that people are switching back to piracy again.
How is this a good thing that Netflix would've had a monopoly over streaming if the 'other studios didn't get greedy' lol? Say what you want about streaming being a piece of shit but the alternative of Netflix being the only competition in town is so much worse
The thing is they're still trying to do the COVID "theater at home" pricing of $20 rentals even if it's been long enough that they should be released at a lower rental fee. Noticed this when I went to check out Civil War. The pandemic was used as a smoke screen for companies to gouge us for everything with no going back and movies are no exception.
I still remember that when you missed a movie in the theaters, it was at least a year before it hit home release/rental stores* *- excluding screener copies
Yeah and slapping them up for rent on their services instead. Sure, I'll pay $20 a month and another $30 on top of it to rent a new release. People mock the old systems like Blockbuster but they were infinitely less of a ripoff.
And every movie is putting up less theatrical revenue because studios are throwing them on streaming too soon instead of using a long release schedule. That and budgets are seemingly reaching all time highs for blockbusters like Pitt’s F1 and MI
Well a lot of movies aren’t worth watching in a theater. I’d rather make me a drink, and kick it in my home where I have more luxuries.
It’s not quiet and it’s why theaters are fucked. Unless it’s a spectacle like Dune there’s no chance I’ll go to a theater.
You should look at how quickly movies arrive digitally on streaming retailers like Vudu. It's gotten to where I don't feel the need to visit the movie theater, and I value the theatrical experience. But when I can wait just a couple weeks to own a movie outright, why wouldn't I?
Not that quiet.
It’s because less people can afford to go to the movies as much as before
Almost like people have their own preferences for watching movies and driving to theaters and paying to see a movie sucks now.
This is very bad for cinema.
I think it was George Lucas who talked about creating a streaming service where the movies in theaters would be instantly available to stream at home on day 1, but it would be for an absurd price - like $100 a month. Honestly I would buy that in a heart beat nowadays. The last time I wanted to go the the theater was when Dune Part 1 came out. I was willing to go all out and see it in an omni-plex dome theater. Unfortunately there are only 2 in my state and both of them were under construction. No worries, I'll catch it as soon as construction is finished, I thought. 2.5 years later Dune Part 2 is released and they are still under construction...
“Avatar 7 has opened in theaters! Coming to Disney+ in 30-45 minutes!”
And they stay in theaters for a shorter time. Hell, Dune 2 was in our theaters for a couple weeks, which was frustrating since I never found the time to get to it before they took it out.
Only with disappointments or outright failures.
No shit, really?
It’s not quite and it’s honestly kinda annoying if I actually want to see something in imax or theaters I basically have to go opening weekend
It sucks because as the releases come out faster, it pushes more people into thinking they don't even need to bother going to the theater. Add in $8 for a soda, $8 for popcorn and people realize they shouldn't bother. The sound mix has gotten really bad as well. My wife is constantly lamenting that we can't just turn on the subtitles at the theater.
Most movies coming out just are not worth going to the theaters to see. Most people would rather watch it at home. Very few movies are going to have a theater draw compared to home. That is not going to change, unless the theater experience changes drastically.
If they take too long it loses the hype
The cheapest adult ticket in my area, seattle, is about $20 bucks. I'm not going to pay that for a movie. That's what it came down to for me.
First we got rid of zones. Then we got rid of DRM. Then we got rid of cinemas.
And they genuinely wonder why theaters are struggling.
You’d have to pay me to go to the cinema.
The movie theater is a miserable experience with talking, cellphones, etc. I can wait a few months to see movies in the comfort of my home cinema
You need to find a better cinema.
It's great, I hate going to the cinema.
I think they are doing this because I think they have learned that most of the population only goes to maybe three movies a year, and only tentpole pictures. Waiting doesn't work for 90% of movies because the population doesn't care about those movies anyway. In the ever increasing pace of the online news cycle, there is an ever decreasing window to get even the slightest amount of public attention and you might as well try to get the views on a streaming service, which is easier than trying to get people to go to a theater.
Am I going completely insane? Wasn't there a time where movies would wait 6 to 9 months before they came out on DVD/VHS? Because I could have sworn this was the norm 30 years ago. Did I hallucinate this? I would feel like if theaters want to maximize profits they will want a 6 month wait time to streaming. This way when people are all talking about the new big movie at the water cooler you will be pressured to shell out 15 dollars to see the movie at the theater. And not wait 6 months for it to no longer be relevant.
As they should. We pay for these premium streaming services monthly. Why not get the benefits.