Why Did You Stop Going to the Movies?
Box office collapse portends darker days for Tinsel Town in 2023 ... and beyond
It’s the most commonly shared opinion this film critic hears.
“I don’t go the movies as much as I used to.
And that refrain came before the pandemic shut down theaters in 2020.
That’s anecdotal, of course. Now, the evidence is more compelling, and frightening, especially if you make a living in La La Land.
People stopped going to the movies this year in alarming numbers, and it got worse as the holidays approached.
The raw numbers tell the story.
The gross for 2022 domestic now looks like $7.5 billion, perhaps 15 percent lower than the year’s lowball $8.5 billion projection and far off the $11.2 billion of 2019 (which, at today’s ticket prices, would be over $13 billion).
Earlier in 2022, we saw modest-sized hits like “The Lost City,” “Elvis” and “The Woman King” show non-franchise fare could draw a crowd, even if other films stumbled upon arrival (“Bros,” “Devotion,” “Father Stu”).
Now?
It’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” and little else.
Studios release their awards-season contenders in the waning weeks of the year, and while they lack the snap of a franchise extension or superhero romp they still can sell some tickets.
- “The King’s Speech” (2010) – $138 million
- “Green Book” (2018) – $85 million
- “A Star Is Born” (2018) – $215 million
- “House of Gucci” (2021) – $53 million
What changed?
This critic reached out, via Twitter, for some informal reactions to a simple question: Why did you stop going to the movies? The answers suggest a near-perfect storm of causes that go far beyond fears of the waning pandemic.
Streaming
The rise of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and Hulu means more first-rate content delivered right to our flat-screen TVs. Recent streaming originals like “The Gray Man,” “Prey” and “Hocus Pocus 2” look identical to their big-screen peers.
Same stars. Similar budgets.
So why go to the movies when you can watch first-run content without reaching for the car keys?
The pandemic accelerated this trend, no doubt. Still, films are arriving faster and faster on VOD platforms now, meaning crowds can wait just a few weeks before seeing theatrical releases at home.
Liberal Hollywood
The industry has been left-of-center for decades, but today’s stars push their political views in ways we haven’t seen in the past. Social media. Viral videos. Softball interviews. And it’s often brimming with rage against those who don’t align with their worldviews.
You can not reason with a Trump supporter. They believe that a Lying Criminal who doesn’t give a flying fuck about them was sent to them by God. Don’t try to reason. Just Vote. Vote like our Democracy depends on it. Because it does.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) April 29, 2022
That has alienated a small but growing number of film goers who prefer not to support stars who rhetorically spit in their faces. Gracious A-listers like Tom Cruise and Dwayne Johnson are now the exception, not the rule.
Lack of Quality Product
“Babylon” and “Amsterdam” are two of the year’s biggest flops. The former has some admirers. The latter? Not so much. Even films arriving with plenty of buzz prove less than award worthy. Think “The Whale” as a fine example.
Over and again movie fans lament the sorry state of modern storytelling. It’s one reason “Top Gun: Maverick” popped as it did. Both critics and fans adored it, and its rugged tale of a fallen hero’s final chance at redemption proved impossible to resist.
The Biden Economy
Be careful what you wish for …
Hollywood, Inc. rallied to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020. Now, they’re stuck with an 80-year-old leader with no clue how to steer the economy out of the ditch. That’s dramatically impacting Hollywood as a whole, and even streaming services are crunching some serious numbers of late.
It’s also forcing potential movie goers to make some tough choices.
Food … or film tickets?
High-Tech Man Caves
Gen X and Baby Boomers grew up watching a TV set with a 25 inch screen. Today, that’s considered appropriate for your computer monitor.
Flat-screen TVs are more affordable than ever. That means your Man Cave or movie room can boast a 65-inch screen with high-def visuals and a state-of-the-art sound system. That makes home viewing far superior to past living room arrangements.
It’s also a wonderful way to watch movies without being interrupted by noisy patrons. Need a bathroom break? Just hit the “pause” button.
That technological advance, along with the comforts of home, means the theatrical model is less and less appealing.
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The people have spoken, and Hollywood should be concerned as we head into 2023.
Let’s wrap by sharing some of the Twitter responses to the question at hand. Please share your own observations below, too.
The box office numbers are shockingly low …
Why did we stop going to the movies?
— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) December 26, 2022
I desperately wanted to take my little to the movies this holiday season, but there is nothing out for families with young children…
People know it’ll just be streaming in a week or so if not immediately…
For me personally, I stopped going because it’s more comfortable to watch at home. I have a good enough TV and sound for me, more comfy chair, plus if I have to go to the loo, I can pause it. There hasn’t ever been a movie I “had” to see at a theater, I just wait and stream it…
The cost of the experience has become prohibitive. It’s cheaper to watch at home…
For me, it’s the product. Since prices have gone up, I’ve become more selective. And a lot of what’s been coming out lately just doesn’t interest me. Thor was the last thing I saw and I didn’t enjoy it, so I’ll be staying home more…
Simple, for our family of 5 to go & watch 1 movie will set us back $120. We still go but only every now & then…
Going to the movies used to mean a lot to me. But I stopped long before the pandemic…
And now? There’s just no reason for me to go anymore. I’ve asked myself, is it the movies, or is it me? It’s both. And I can do something about only one of them…
I have not been to a theater in many years. The prices are sky high. The theater is filled with obnoxious clown who are loud and disruptive.
The movies absolutely suck. I am not interested in movies that are nothing more than pointless left wing propaganda lies. I will not support the left wing imbeciles that act in these terrible movies.
I stopped going to the movies and football games because the stars are Woke, especially movie stars. They have made a big effort to let me know that they don’t like people like me and they don’t care about the things I care about. The football players not standing for the national anthem was pretty much the breaking point for me. The movie stars and football players have a right to their opinions, but they can’t expect me to be their fan. I’m happy at home watching classic movies on my tv set, I can lots of good movies for free. I saw the Yul Brynner/Steve McQueen version of The Magnificent Seven last week and it was great. I’d never seen it before, don’t know how I missed it.
I actually have a different take. Movies are bad because of universities. They are turning out left-wing nuts who are literally mentally ill. Every left-wing organization, including Hollywood, has productivity problems. They are all obsessed with anti-racism, etc. This has strongly effected leftist non-profits.
Once you get past the ‘representation’, the actual stories being cranked out bear the same resemblance to real stories that a paint-by-numbers painting bears to a Monet or a Picasso. It’s not art. Colleges no longer teach art or beauty. They teach anti-whatever as a substitute for knowledge. You have ignorant screenwriters. They are doing the best they can. That’s what we’re afraid of.
I think you are on to something.
I believe you have correctly identified the core issue, the actual cause. Increasingly I encounter fewer and fewer people of any age who seem able to conceive independent thoughts and few I know have any knowledge at hand beyond the pablum fed to them by mindless propagandizing media, all foisted upon them by the bought and paid for by the corporate-government complex.
When I was young, not every university was top rate, and not every professor was either sane, and many were poor teachers. At a minimum, though, the institutions I had contact with over my formative and working years did offer some level of relevant education and also maintained minimum levels of attendance and performance to get through most courses and even more to attain a degree, of any major.
These days, the system is working at severely dumbing down even legal and medical education. If the system is trying to put me in jail, I want a lawyer who knows the law, believes in “justice,” and understands American legal and Constitutional fundamentals. If I am sick or injured, I want a medical practitioner who understands the human body, scientific fundamentals, the basics of diseases and the principles of treatment. And, above all, I want a medical practitioner who takes seriously, and believes in, the Hippocratic Oath.
We as a society are morphing into an Idiocracy in every sphere and at every level.
I am an old guy. I have lived mostly in pretty good times, worked hard, and have had an overall very good life. I now just have to maintain a while longer and it no longer will be my problem. I am sorry for those who come after me.
Who knows what the distant future holds for humanity, and change is constant and relentless, so what is today will not be what is tomorrow. The pendulum swings. If society is to survive with any coherence, the craziness will abate. Unfortunately, right now, at this time, currently, and for the near future, the inmates increasingly are running the asylum… and we not only are allowing it but seemingly are encouraging it.
Movies are either bad remakes of good movies, or absurdly WOKE. Or both.
The last movie I attended in a theater was Psycho. I had just returned from a stint in Viet Nam, it was a Sunday and all my buddies were out doing girlfriend things so I succumbed to all the hype and went by myself. It was a late afternoon and there were maybe 8 other people in the theater in one of the DC suburbs.. That was what?,,,57 years ago so they have been having problems for quite a while.
Personally I think actors and actresses are made up of people with real personal problems. They spend all day at the movie lot pretending they are someone else. Someone who is smart, kind and brave. Then they go home, wake up and they are the same a-hole they have always been.
There’s nothing new. Hollywood is either remaking old movies or using the same trope in a tired way. It’s boring and there are better ways to spend my time and money. I don’t even watch on streaming services.
I just visited my sister over Christmas, and was looking for a movie to go to with her. Everything at the AMC 16 either screamed “woke” or “bad” from looking at the listing, except a cartoon movie “Puss n Boots, the last wish”. So we went to the cartoon, and it was actually quite good. Silly, but good.
Oh, I forgot to mention, AMC’s website is really really bad. I had to fight with it every step of the way. It keeps wanting to know your location on every page, its search would not work, and pages would not load properly. It seems that any kind of anonymizing on your end breaks their site. Most people simply want to find a theater and see what is playing, so I don’t understand what they are thinking for designing a website like that.
A decade ago popcorn was $20. That was the last movie I saw.
I stopped going around the turn of the century, when two big-budget films, neither of them particularly left-wing, gave me a one-two punch of juvenile, pig-ignorant imbecility. They were “The Patriot” and “Pearl Harbor.” Really, really bad screenwriting. I like a movie that’s written well — “Bachelor Mother,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Shepherd of the Hills,” “A Foreign Affair,” “The Quiet Man,” “North by Northwest,” “Third Man on the Mountain,” “Charade,” “Goldfinger,” “Tom Jones,” “Bullitt,” “A Man for All Seasons,” “True Grit,” “The Eagle Has Landed,” “Barry Lyndon,” “The Gods Must Be Crazy” “Die Hard,” “Ghostbusters,” “For Richer or Poorer,” to name a few at random. No matter the genre, no matter the stars, good writing is key. I could watch the 20th century’s movies forever. This century’s, not so much.
The last thing I saw in the theatre was the 2nd Ant-Man movie, maybe 2018? Those were really the only Marvel films I have enjoyed in a long time. The main reason I stopped going to theaters was all the distractions. People playing with their phones, loud talking and crying infants all contributed to my decision. Also, on more than one occasion, someone felt the need to sit right in front or behind me in a nearly empty theater. Those were the times I wished I could pass gas on command, just for a little payback.
Fortunately, since then, there are only a few things I wished I had seen on a big screen.
I stopped going because why would I pay a huge amount of money to see movies by and starring people who hate my guts. And the movies usually suck on top of that. They can make their money from Blue states from now on.
Watch a few K-Dramas on Netflix and you’ll see what H-Wood could be doing. The writing, acting and production values are far better than anything coming out of Hollywood these days. (i.e. “My Mister”). Most have subtitles which many people hate. But their quality is addictive. This is an open invitation to Korean Drama producers to come here and give America what they really want – 2 hours of escape from the constant harping of the Kulture Karens who run everything now.
When I paid 28 bucks for ticket, then 78 bills for popcorn candy and cokes with no ice…
“It’s also forcing potential movie goers to make some tough choices.
Food … or film tickets?”
Easy choice: Food.
I have seen nothing recently (save Maverick) which even remotely interesting and I haven’t even seen Maverick. It has been years since Hollyweird has presented anything even remotely interesting. Frankly, I don’t miss it.
I find the TV and movies are woke and going for “diversity” always when it should not be there. For example Bridgerton immediately turned me off as it was suppose to be happening in mid 1800s England yet a good part of the cast was not white and this would not match the time period. Hollywood is playing diversity and LGBTQ almost constantly in Movies, TV, and commercials. I gave up on all as I do not need to pay for anything.
In the past year I have watched only a couple new movies out and it was Top Gun-Maverick and The Adam Project and most TV was streaming Blue Bloods, NCIS, and older CSI. Other movies were older via streaming.
Starting in the 70s, writers became obsessed with “anti-heroes” (rebels without a clue), and ever darker views of humanity. Everything is sh*t, everything is corrupt. Next they forgot how to conceive, let alone tell, a story. Premise/setup, complication, resolution, became premise/setup, complication, dissolve into incoherence and irrelevance. Heroic triumph, character development, growth, spiritual or moral evolution became impossible when everything and everyone is corrupt. Life in the suburbs was dark, shallow and empty, redeemable only by pederasty, adultery and homosexuality (American Beauty.) Then came the obsession with apocalypse and sucking whirlpools of regressive degeneracy of individuals (Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc., etc.) Streaming isn’t helping that trend.
At theaters, it’s comic books, tedious sermonizing, or the world as seen through the eyes of your average Hollywood screenwriter, which is to say, immature, utterly conformist and morally twisted.
In short, there’s almost nothing ever worth watching.