5 years ago the pandemic closed the cinemas

Five years ago, the world changed before the Covid-19 pandemic. What has begun in China has quickly spread around the world, creating an international crisis that none of us felt in our lives. To the fact that it led was almost complete shutdown on the meeting. Contact with a person was directly dangerous, which made closed events with strangers, but impossible.

As a result, by March 20, 2020, thanks to the widespread home, virtually every cinema in North America, and most of the world, was forced to temporarily close its doors. Hollywood suggested the signs that this pandemic was very serious, With the movie “James Bond” there is no time to die “delays its global release in early MarchWhat was not a trifle. The movies have been canceled. Cinemas all over the country are charged. It was very scary, but it also had to be temporary.

Unfortunately for the time as AMC and Regal allowed to reopen their doors for films such as “Tenkl” Christopher Nolan And the “new mutants” of Marvel, they did it in the media -laundry, which was greatly changed. Hollywood threw bricks on the gas pedal when it came to the current. Before the Netflix pandemic, he ruled this space, and there Hula and other competitors fought for the work. By the end of 2020, we had Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO MAX (now Just Max) and Pailock, with Paramount+and others near the corner.

Even more transformational became the appearance of Pvod, AKA Premium Video on demand. VOD has been a thing for many years, but when the theaters closed, the studios released the films that ran at the box office, cut at home for $ 20 to rent. It was a steep price that people rose at home, were ready to pay. If Universal released “Trolls World Tour”, possible theatrical issue, at home on VOD in April 2020The Pandora’s box was constantly open. Theater will have to fight for relevance from this point, even without the threat of a global pandemic.

As long as 2021 swept, vaccines became available, and the immediate threat of the pandemic was mitigated. Hollywood started planning big movies such as “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “F9: The Fast Saga”. Unfortunately, Studios were also all in the streaming and uncertain against rental. This was visible when Warner Bros. He announced that he would premiere his entire 2021 movie in theaters and at HBO Max on the same day. This solution is, of course, angry with chains such as AMC. It also did not make stars and directors very happy.

This was to reduce the sale of tickets for the year when the theater needed the most – and it did. Not a small part, thanks to such solutions, was much more slowly, much slower than anyone. Of course, films such as “Godzilla vs. Kong” were relatively successful, but so much was due to the lack of competition. Mc -level was released much less films, and they stayed in cinemas for shorter periods. This is a big, bad way, he has been subjected to business a theaters.

It Why the Mother’s Regal Company, Cineworld, had to apply for bankruptcy In 2022 (and largely why the theaters were broken billions of debt). That is why Sony Pictures came to buy a favorite regional theatrical network Alamo Drafthouse in 2024. Before the pandemic, the box office enjoyed record highs in 2019, when global ticket sales exceeded $ 42 billion. Disney only this year earned more than $ 13 billionIf the enormous nine films scored at least $ 1 billion for this shot. But it was then. This is now.

Over the past five years, the bar for success was forcibly reduced, as evidenced by the fact that only nine films have made at least $ 1 billion since 2019. Meanwhile, theaters continue to get with big failures, such as the WGA 2023 and SAG hit their 2024. That is why in 2024 the domestic box office fell to $ 8.5 billion The load of the encouraging $ 9 billion in 2023. Now? 2025 walking even more behind last year. Days of domestic cash desk exceeding $ 10 billion annually, despite inflation, it may well be behind us. This problem is also translated worldwide.

Before the pandemic Hollywood is increasingly depending on reliable ticket sales from China. Now? Hits in China are small and far between American films, and Chinese audiences are increasingly preferring home movies. It takes even more money from the table. The audience is also much more satisfied for watching movies at home. And why shouldn’t they be? Even large blockbusters are now available in some cases less than three weeks after they first reached theaters. The “Waiting of the Stream” mentality really caught on, killing the many films that were successful.

Therefore Netflix only brought more profits than the entire world box office in 2024. The flow can bring profit, but nothing like the DVD OLD era. VOD can certainly help change the happiness of the film, but it does nothing to help keep light for smaller theater networks that need a consistent line of movies (unlike the terrible dry spells).

One of the biggest problems is even disposable, Slam Dunk Hits does not happen as before. “Captain American: Brave New World” Marvel will not receive $ 400 million worldwide. Automatic superhero blockbusters of $ 1 billion no longer represent a thing. Again, it creates a much less certainty for theaters, which is only for complication of questions.

There are many nuances here that can fill the book, but the fact is that the cinemas are now in an unenviable position. Meanwhile, Hollywood is considered to be the idea of ​​making a profitable broadcast – this is a cruel opinion. The fact is that the studios need theaters to survive, and a number of short -sighted, desperate solutions changed consumer habits, perhaps, irreverence. Theaters are now starving to death.

So, what is the answer? Is there hope? Or can a ticket price reduction make the cinema return to the cinema more often? Perhaps tickets are much more expensive. Perhaps it makes the theaters part Mixed entertainment centers that include everything from arcade to throwing axfor better or worse. AMC CEO Adam Aron certainly believe Returning to longer, exclusive theater windows is mandatory.

What you can say is finally that the days of people who go to the movies to just go to the movies. The recovery that hoped never came. Five years later, theaters face a new uncertain normal.