Will streaming takes the place of movie theaters?

With today's 85-inch 4K Ultra HDTVs and 5.1-channel speaker systems you can enjoy at home pretty much the same quality audio and video that you would experience at a suburban multiplex cinema. Plus the popcorn is cheaper.

I could envision streaming someday becoming the norm, but I don't believe the movie theater will disappear completely. There will probably always be some demand for it mainly because of the nostalgia factor.

I saw a private screening a few months back and I absolutely loved the experience. No ads or coming attractions and no inconsiderate people either. The theater I went to charged 250.00 and I brought 3 people with me so that’s pretty expensive. If it were a party of 8 it comes to around 31 dollars a person. Now to be able to see a great movie and not have all the negative aspects of the normal movie going experience for that price would be great. The problem would be finding 8 people who all want to see the same movie. 😀

I much prefer going to a theater except for dealing with noisy people.

My wife and I go to the movies all the time. We really missed it during the pandemic, and we're happy we can go again. Although there's not many movies coming out these days, but it's picking up.

We enjoy the experience of sitting in the theater and having our snacks. It's an immersive experience, better than we can get at home. We always go to an afternoon showing, so crowds aren't an issue. Most of the time there's less than 10 other people in the theater, and sometimes we're the only ones.

The tickets are fairly cheap ($7.50) and the theater has recently been refurbished with luxury reclining seats. Happy to see they survived the shutdowns.

I wouldn't be surprised. I laughed at the idea streaming would take the place of satellite tv.

I love going to a theater to see a movie. It's an activity that requires me getting out of my house to enjoy.

To answer the OP, the answer is yes, but sooner than you expect. I’ve been designing high end custom home theater systems for 20 years. Did you know that THX was a protocol to assess if a movie theater sound system was acceptable to play the movie’s soundtrack? Most theaters fail miserably.

Standards of public behavior have deteriorated drastically. I don’t want to be in a theater with these assholes.

I don’t need to hear the group here at peak moments. The group does not matter to me. I care about what I feel. That is why I love home theater.

And the movie starts when I want it. I can pause what I want it. I can take a piss when I want it and I can eat and drink what I want it. What the hell do I want from the theater?

The drawbacks to streaming is that the content is compressed, hence, degraded from the source material. The same happens with MPEG3 (Motion Pictures Expert Group [Layer] 3) of a label I KNOW you know you’ve never heard before.

You want to watch convenient and compressed? Be my guest. Watch the shadows on Plato’s cave.

You want the real, intimate cinematic experience? Eschew your pathetic local cinema. Explore the high-end opportunities of having a pro design and build your own home theater. You will be stunned.

Streaming / TV already accounts for most films watched, but the reason cinema continues to survive - it is a night out.

During the pandemic attendance has still been higher than the 80s (for the months cinemas have been allowed to open) which was the worst decade in the UK.

What revived cinema then was the introduction of the multiplex and more choice. Now the rise of the upmarket screen with quality food and drink at the seat is driving profitability. Others innovations such as live broadcast of music and theatre bring diversity, so cinema continues to have a place beyond the blockbuster.