I've written a bit about movies in the past because I am a cinephile.
I love movies, and have been going to the theater on my own since I was 12 years old. Apropos of that, the first movie I ever saw sans parental units was 1995's 'Batman Forever' starring the late, great Val Kilmer. Movies were my escape to fantastical worlds, or interesting stories, or mindless entertainment for a few hours. One weekend, I saw the Keanu Reeves romance 'A Walk in the Clouds' and the trainwreck that was Kevin Costner's 'Waterworld' (so you can't say I didn't have eclectic taste).
Whatever the issues Hollywood has (and there are many), there remains something magical about going to the theater. The big screen, the darkness, the audio. Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' was one I saw in IMAX because it needed to be seen in IMAX; the sound that hit me when they tested the nuclear weapon resonated into my bones.
You can rarely, if ever, replicate that at home.
I use an app called Letterboxd to track the movies I watch now, because I'm old and my memory ain't what it used to be. This year alone, I've watched 69 movies so far, and I think I can count on one hand the films I've seen in the theater.
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The last movie I saw in the theater was 'A Minecraft Movie' with my almost 12-year-old son. He loved it; I didn't hate it. And, unlike 'Snow White' (which I avoided like the plague), each theater showing the movie at my local cineplex was darned near sold out.
So I disagree with Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos when he says the theaters are an 'outmoded idea' for people.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says releasing movies in theaters is “an outmoded idea for most people” and that Netflix is saving Hollywood.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 24, 2025
“What is the consumer trying to tell us? That they’d like to watch movies at home”
(Source: Deadline) pic.twitter.com/geedsqX8PO
Asked today if — amid shrinking theatrical windows, sagging box office receipts and production fleeing L.A. —Netflix has destroyed Hollywood, the company’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos replied, 'No, we’re saving Hollywood.'
Sarandos made the remarks at the TIME100 Summit. He went on to describe Netflix as 'a very consumer-focused company. We deliver the program to you in a way you want to watch it.'
I don't think Netflix is the reason why people prefer to watch movies at home.
For starters, going to the movies is expensive. For a family of four, tickets and snacks can easily cost upwards of $100. People might be willing to pay for that -- if they feel they are getting something for their money.
We saw it with 'A Minecraft Movie', which has earned $720.8 million worldwide to date on a budget of $150 million. The animated religious film 'King of Kings' has earned $42.9 million on a $15 million budget, and it boasts some big voice acting talent, including Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Ben Kingsley, and Kenneth Branagh.
A little over a month ago, theaters were floating a variety of ideas to get audiences back into the seats. Those ideas included sing-alongs (my idea of hell), allowing the use of cell phones, and even permitting the smoking of weed. If there's a surefire way to make sure audiences don't return, it's implementing those options.
When I went to see 'A Minecraft Movie' in a very crowded theater, the woman next to me decided she couldn't eat her popcorn or her pizza or her candy or dig in her bag without having her phone flashlight on the entire time. I complained to management. My son complained to management. So did a couple of other people.
No one came to tell her to stop. She just got full and stopped eating.
Before that, I was at a showing of 'Godzilla Minus One' (a fantastic film worth your time, by the way), and any time the titular monster wasn't on screen, the inconsiderate woman a few rows ahead of us kept checking Facebook.
In short, people don't know how to behave in theaters anymore. I blame part of that on COVID, which somehow broke our social fabric (thanks, for the lockdowns, politicians!) and a culture where people think they're in their living room even when they're out in public (hence talking on speakerphone at the grocery store).
All of this is turning people off to the idea of going to the theater. Why drop $100 so the Karen two seats down can shine her flashlight in your face when you can do it at home for $12.99 a month?
But as 'A Minecraft Movie' and 'King of Kings' have shown us, people are willing to overlook those things.
They just need good content. And this is where I actually blame Netflix and other streaming services. They are content-driven models.
Content. Driven.
Not quality, but quantity.
That means services like Netflix need stuff on their platform to stream. It doesn't matter if it's good, bad, or mediocre stuff. It just has to be there so people keep paying that monthly membership fee. Netflix has created some very good shows, and I won't deny that. As I write this, I'm looking at my 'Stranger Things' block calendar, and I eagerly await the final season.
But there's a dearth of quality, original content on streaming platforms. And if you look at places like Disney+ and the slaughter of Marvel and Star Wars, it's a grim reality.
Couple this need for content with the push to create content for 'modern audiences', and it's a recipe for disaster. Streaming services often measure success by 'minutes watched,' but -- absent cameras in audience members' homes -- we have no real idea if people are watching the content.
I know I will put on a movie I've watched before, usually 'The Lord of the Rings,' for background noise while I write or do chores. Active watching isn't always a thing, so streaming often isn't as successful as it seems.
What can be done?
For starters, theater management needs to be more proactive about policing audience behavior. I can't remember the last time I saw actual ushers in theaters, but they're needed. Theaters also need to lobby distribution companies and streaming services not to drop new releases on the platform two weeks after they hit the big screen. As Hollywood makes more money through theatrical releases than streaming, it would behoove studios to do this.
There was a time you had to wait months, if not a year or more, to get a movie on home video. If you missed it in the theater, you were out of luck. Movies were events. Even a decade ago, I waited outside in line to see the second part of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' with friends.
I miss those days.
And Netflix just doesn't hit the same.
