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…
Just remember all of you folks who are crying about too much ‘woke’ in the movies – UP UNTIL RECENTLY IT WAS ALL CONSERVATIVE AND NO ONE ELSE HAD A VOICE OR VISIBILITY IN THE MOVIES. Remember how it feels to be ‘forgotten’ and to be ‘demonized.’ It isn’t fun now, is it?
The reason I reject Hollywood and its products is the same reason I reject the Far Left Hate Mob. On the socials, the Left is a hateful online lynch mob; censoring anything and anyone who doesn’t agree with them.
Now imagine you’re a Hollywood producer who wants to make a movie. Put on your helmet and get ready for the flack from the studios if you don’t appease them with every frame of your movie.
So what are the viewers left with? Fantasy garbage that cannot exist, but Hollywood and the Left says you’re a good boy if the producer followed their rules; the angry mob won’t come after you. (Except Cameron found out it doesn’t work out that way sometimes.)
The day I stopped going to the theaters was the day after watching the Daniel Craig Bond go from being a suave, sophisticated, intelligent, and professional agent into a crying, blubbering, and feminized drunkard who goes on drinking binges and refuses to take out the Really Bad Guy, despite the 00 status.
Hollywood, redefine THIS, OK?
I was born in Los Angeles in 1950. I lived around the areas where we would run into movie stars all the time. I remember how special it was to get an autograph…they were bigger than life. I loved seeing movies being filmed in our streets back in the 60’s. They were big productions, and some movies were black and white but real good. Most directors even advertised in the newspapers they needed extras…exciting for a kid. I remember being in the background of a crowd…loved it. But now it’s all filmed and cut in a matter of months, and most of them are completely computer graphics. We know these are the end times of Hollywood’s shining star. everyone knows it’s easier to setup at home…cheaper.
Seriously, the only movie left that I would go see is about the Pandemic, but too old to wait for that to happen.
I saw more movies at the theaters in 2022 than ever because of my AMC A-List subscription! 39+!!!
I don’t have the bad movie-going so experience many do when I go (maybe because we mostly go see movies at a AMC in a nice mall). It’s been amazing seeing films in IMAX Laser, Dolby Cinema, and Dolby Cinema 3D this year.
I stopped going to the movies when woke politics infected Hollywood, and producers became concerned more about preaching woke politics messages than good storytelling and moviemaking. It’s that simple.
The tribe that owns Hollyweird seems to hate white middle class values. Their films are expensive to see, woke, loud, stupid and made for 13-year-old morons. Ten-minute car chases and machine guns take the place of thoughtful writing and plot. Where is the next Maltese Falcon? Casablanca was a war propaganda film and yet beautifully made. Avatar is a feast for the senses but where is the plot? Actors hate us and our values and we hate them back.
My last movie memory? 7 bucks for a paper straw crimped into cup of ice coated with a slick of coke flavoring.
The movie makers and celebrity entertainers have become ‘progressively’ non-relevant. Everyone I know stopped going to the theater several years ago much less acknowledge Hollywood. Their liberal driven agendas in every movie is being felt in their bottom lines. And the out-spoken celebrities who push their political views on the public are facing increased backlash & dwindling paychecks too. They don’t even realize how foolish they are when they alienate 1/2 their audience with anti-conservative vitriol. It simply demonstrates to the world the only free speech Hollywood believes in is that which agrees with their own. So accordingly, 1/2 of the potential customer-base won’t be purchasing their products. How does the old saying go? What goes around comes around.
It’s all libtard propaganda that hates America, white Men, masculinity, faith, family, and real values, while promoting feminasties, socialism, and the gay agenda.
Rob Reiner is reason enough to give up movies permanently. Hard to believe this idiot actually ever made good movies. Everything WOKE goes BROKE. Smart people would get that and dump the woke s***. Additionally if you hate the audience, then why are you still in this country. All we ever hear from these snowflake Hollywood idiots is how great other countries are compared to the USA. There are millions of Americans who would gladly help them move out of the country free of charge.
I watched “Avatar: The Way of Water” only to have a break, a guys night out, and see the 3D and double frame rate HFR. The theater had lounge chairs, and the 3+ hours went fast. It was moderately enjoyable, but if I hadn’t been invited, and if I hadn’t been curious about the 3D and HFR, I would not have gone. It was OK, the general plot, and special effects well done, but not worth my time. Parts were predictable.
I utterly despise comic book superhero movies and I’m tired of remakes, sequels, and prequels.
I’m tired of all the leftist woke propaganda in movies, TV, and commercials. It’s to the point of being absolutely ridiculous.
The plots are unoriginal, uninteresting, or just woke remakes of older movies. Why would you do this when the originals were great?? Oh yeah, because the these uneducated Lib Gen Z college grads writing the content lack individual thoughts, creativity, and humor. A little real world life experience might help too.
Given the above, we have no interest in spending our hard-earned money on overpriced garbage (both the movie and the food) just to sit in a dirty, loud theater with noisy, rude patrons. Not when we can have a fun, quality experience at home for free.
There is a pandemic CAUSED BY FAUCI and ECO HEALTH ALLIANCE doing GAIN OF FUNCTION RESEARCH IN CHINA. This is significant because this MANUFACTURED DISEASE does not behave like naturally occurring diseases which offer HERD IMMUNITY and NATURAL IMMUNITY ONCE ONE HAS CONTRACTED THE DISEASE.
This also makes my fellow right wingers hatred of masking COMPLETELY STUPID since it’s literally ALL YOU GOT and while it might not work 100% there is NOTHING ELSE to prevent the transmission of the disease of you catching it REPEATEDLY. So no, not going to the effing movies to sit around morons who wear their masks under their noses or worse who cry ‘Merica while spewing germs all over the place.
ARREST FAUCI
Simple…I decided to not give money to people who don’t like me. Not a tough concept to grasp. Top Gun Maverick was a perfect example of paying tribute to a character, and fan base, without waving any political flag of any devotion to the viewer.
A famous person once said, “One cannot serve two masters.” Hollywood must collectively decide which of their two goals to go after:
1) Entertaining, shocking and delighting their patrons with compelling stories that celebrate (or caution against) the human condition,
OR
2) Hammering out “social justice” with messaging and politics, in an effort to win more elections for their political party.
Clearly, their choice, at least for now is option #2. I don’t think it’s working well for them.
CGI messes.
Sanctimonious liberals and leftists.
99% no originality, just recycled garbage.