Are you a homebody, or you love going out with friends? There are two streams of personalities, and they ensure the balance between streaming services and cinemas.

If you are a homebody, www.howtostream.co.nz can prove to be a lifesaver for you. There is absolutely no need to compromise on the quality of popcorn or a movie that turn out lousy, despite all the commotion it made pre-release. You can skip to a new show or movie and make the fresh batch of popcorns as you like — fresh and buttery!

Moving ahead in post-pandemic times, now that cinemas are operational, who doesn’t like the experience movie theatre brings?

And then there is no alternative of the 3D experience, sure, you can get some fragment of replacement with VR Headset, but it doesn’t replicate even the 30% of the experience.

Also, you are missing out on the whole social element of enjoying a movie with friends and strangers in the movie theatre.

Many movies were deferred to release until the cinemas became functional, and of course, that was a wise decision. Evidently, No Time To Die is not the kind of movie one can truly enjoy at home, or can you?

Streaming Service (FTW) For The Win, says Introverts

It truly depends on the person. For instance, if you ask an introvert, they are through and through homebodies and can go to any lengths to avoid going out. We have seen many introverts in pandemic spending hundreds of bucks to create an experience at home.

We have witnessed many of our introvert friends create a near-to-cinematic experience by buying large screens and Dolby Surround Sound Systems, which of course, would give you a very close-to cinema-like experience.

And the investment is also one-off. Plus, you get to save $15 on overpriced popcorn and pop, which you could get inexpensive and freshly at home. So for introverts, the alternative is promising.

Streaming Services — Dependable, Choices & Affordable

As opposed to movie theatres, streaming services are definitely dependable. If you choose something to watch, and it doesn’t seem like a good watch for the first fifteen minutes, you have many other options to fall back to.

In a movie theatre, you are bound to watch the whole film even if it is the opposite of what you expected, or you can choose to walk out. But you do not get a refund for the ticket, time, and effort you made to reach the movie theatre.

Having so many options has spoiled the viewers significantly. The frequency of going to movie theatres has reduced in the past couple of years, and the catalyst was the pandemic.

During 2021-22, movie theatres were a no-go-place due to covid-19. People have become accustomed to the comfort of home and streaming services. Also, nowadays, many streaming services offer to buy the movie at a lesser price than cinema tickets comparatively, on the same day of the movie release (Hint hint: Disney, Batman).

Most days, procrastination and laziness get the best of you; otherwise, it has to be an experience like DC Marvels or Spiderman: No Way Home to make you jog all the way to the movie theatre and experience the majestic.

Collaborations & New Tidings

The shift in the industry has given a new lease of life to the creative houses. Disney and Warner Bros have reaped the benefits of collaborating with streaming giants. Now the company has two avenues of income, cinema and streaming services.

In recent news, Sony Pictures is collaborating with the streaming giant Netflix; meanwhile, Amazon and Warner Bros Discovery are collaborating with HBO Max.

These collaborations will give the viewers access to theatrical releases much earlier than before on streaming services. Meanwhile, movies will get their well-deserved time in a movie theatre.

Will Streaming Services Eventually Kill Movie Theatres?

Besides so many streaming services and content that keep surpassing their predecessor, movie theatres are not close to dying. We can say that in light of recent stats when movie theatres reopened post-pandemic.

In the United Kingdom, the box office saw £10 million in one week; meanwhile, in North America box office reached the mark of $97 million in a four-day weekend only. The numbers are not as good as we have seen in the last ten years, but they are good to keep the moviemakers afloat.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!

The recent tug of war of streaming services is only pushing the content creators to create something exceptional.

Movies like Eat, Pray, Love, or Purple Hearts wouldn’t coerce the viewers to go out and watch the movie unless it is something magnificent like Avatar 2 or Dune. Only then the viewers will make an effort to come out of their homes and go to the movie theatre. Cinema will only become a hub for experience, not for light-heartened movies.

The times have changed; it is not like when E.T stayed in the movie theatre for a year and still did business; movie makers now have to be more wise and creative with the content they bring.

If you look at the flip side, consumers flocking the movie theatre even after options of so many streaming services one button away — is a compliment to moviemakers.

The Future

The future sure doesn’t look as promising as the present. Eventually, the consumer will become more selective in coming to movie theatres as ticket prices are rising. Meanwhile, there are economical and better selections available on streaming services.

Unless movie theatres use more innovative ways to keep it fresh and interesting for movie-goers, it is impossible for creators to create cinematic wonders like Top Gun: Maverick every time; hence we anticipate a slow decline in the trend of cinema-goers.

What if the movie theatre mixes it up and airs the first episode of Stranger Things Season 5 or the latest episode of Yellowstone, it would give a breath of new air to the institution — only the future can tell!