In 2010, The Social Network, Black Swan, and True Grit all debuted in theaters. They went on to receive critical acclaim and Oscar nominations. They also all made over two hundred million dollars worldwide. Contrast that with last year, where well-received and accolade-decorated films like West Side Story and The Last Duel were met with poor box office performance, despite everything going for them, including being helmed by cinematic titans like Steven Speilberg and Ridley Scott. And in early April 2022, AmbuLAnce, a critically-praised, high budget spectacle directed by auteur filmmaker Michael Bay––who had previously directed films that went on to become some of the highest-grossing in their respective years––was crushed in the box office by the second Sonic the Hedgehog installment. Both of these movies were well-received by critics, yet the franchise film winning out represents a growing trend of standard adult drama cinema being pushed out by big-name movies, and the entire theater medium slowly beginning to go the way of the dinosaur in the face of streaming.
During Covid, people stopped going to theaters. It made sense; it was safer and studios were more than happy to deliver films right to people’s at-home televisions via their streaming subscriptions. Now that we have (knock on wood) come closer to the light at the end of the tunnel and begun to explore our new normal, theaters are back and so are movies… yet the increased prominence of streaming remains. So far, the most successful movies of the past year have 1. Been the films that people could not watch at home (duh) and 2. Been the movies people are afraid of being spoiled for them by the internet. So, Marvel. This is having a colossal impact on what theatrically-released films end up being successful, as the franchise ones are still raking in millions while the less-bombastic pictures that would have once delighted audiences are now only flourishing on streaming, and on a much smaller scale. Hollywood is a reactionary industry––it has to be. So when executives see AmbuLAnce fail, when it might have once worked, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 dominate, where it might have once had stiffer competition, they are naturally going to make some different decisions about what projects move forward and which ones fall to the wayside. Then there is the streaming angle to consider. For an industry that once looked down on television from its cinematic perch, streaming has closed its lead significantly. The success of Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, and others have persuaded the powers that be to further expedite the shifting movie landscape, investing more resources in limited streaming series and taking them away from your standard two-hour theater dramas. Such a massive shift naturally has some worried, so the question exists: is this the beginning of the end for traditional cinema?
I am a relatively young person, so I will not claim to know the thoughts of people from decades ago, but I would imagine that some reacted negatively to the introduction of sound in film during the 1920s. I would think the same for the rise of blockbusters spawned by movies like Jaws and Star Wars in the ‘70s. And I possess a similar line of thinking for what some audience members may have thought about the introduction of CGI or IMAX. Every game-changing development for the film industry has inevitably spawned its critics and its supporters, and while I recognize that pretending the general downfall of most theater movies is a completely equivalent change is an oversimplification, I believe that calling the streaming shift ‘the end of cinema’ is just as premature a notion.
As someone about to go to college for screenwriting, I know just how important it is to be aware of just how malleable the film medium is right now. The way audiences desire to consume their stories has been reshaped by a global pandemic, an industry emphasis on franchise culture, and the rise of streaming services. It is clear that we have passed a point of no return. Superheroes almost single-handedly dominate the blockbuster conversation, it has become too expensive to film Hollywood movies outside of America, and the general audience’s desire for limited series over two-hour adult dramas is clear as day. I think it would be premature to call these developments damnation for the industry. As much as many cinephiles will grumble at these changes, the majority of moviegoers have clearly gone through some taste alterations, and it is the job of these major studios to cater to that commonly-held desire. It is sad that films that would have once dominated the box office are now more likely to find success on the HBO Max back catalog, but at the same time, it is undeniable that new opportunities will come from this industry evolution. Already, streaming movies have been nominated for top Oscars and streaming shows have completely stolen the pop culture conversation. And it is not just about popularity; many of these projects have been just as innovative and exciting as some of the 2010s’ best films. Who knows where we could go from here.
Ultimately, the theater movie is an iconic part of the media industry and it will never disappear completely. Alas, it seems like most of the films that will grace the silver screen in the near future are going to be pretty exclusively franchise entertainment, judging by what has been successful. It is sad to see Hollywood turning away from what has made this medium what it is for so long, but none of this changes the exciting possibilities that the dawn of a new era brings. Whether watching by theater or by streaming screen, we are still in for plenty of fresh and exciting projects over the course of the 2020s, even if we have to work a little to find the diamonds in the rough.