The future of cinemas

[Lord Camomile]

Big news in the cinema industry.

Warner Bros have announced a 'hybrid model' that will see each of their 2021 films available in both cinemas and HBO Max on the day of release.

On the day of release, films will be available in cinemas and on HBO Max, currently not available in the UK , for one month, and then continue on in cinemas.

I think it might have been the Cineworld/Picturehouse thread where we last had this discussion, but this now feels like a separate story.

I still believe (hope?) this won't be the end of cinemas as a concept - I think people will still want to gather in public places to watch films - but it could be the end of multiplexes. It certainly signals a massive shift, and we'll have to wait and see just how other studios, and indeed cinemas themselves, react.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Films affected include:

• The Suicide Squad
• The Matrix 4
• Dune
• Godzilla vs. Kong
• Space Jam: A New Legacy.
• Little Things
• Judas and the Black Messiah
• Tom & Jerry
• Mortal Kombat
• Those Who Wish Me Dead
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
• In the Heights
• Reminiscence
• Malignant
• The Many Saints of Newark
• King Richard
• Cry Macho
  

 

[Saul Goodman]

Films affected include:

• The Suicide Squad
• The Matrix 4
• Dune
• Godzilla vs. Kong
• Space Jam: A New Legacy.
• Little Things
• Judas and the Black Messiah
• Tom & Jerry
• Mortal Kombat
• Those Who Wish Me Dead
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
• In the Heights
• Reminiscence
• Malignant
• The Many Saints of Newark
• King Richard
• Cry Macho

Big company announces "This is how we're trying to pull ourself out of the shit'

Because, like must people I'm rather selfish, and given that I don't like to watch films whilst surrounded by cunts, I'm struggling to muster a fuck as to whether cinemas survive, but I probably hope they do.

 

[Epona]

How many of those on the list are completely new IPs or new concepts rather than sequels and reboots/remakes? I would worry more if I felt cinematic creativity was most at risk.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Will there be a charge to watch the films on HBO Max? I'm guessing there will be as they have to make money on them.

I would hope that cinemas don't completely die out but who knows in this current world.

 

[Reno]

How many of those on the list are completely new IPs or new concepts rather than sequels and reboots/remakes? I would worry more if I felt cinematic creativity was most at risk.

Those are the Warner Bros films originally scheduled for a 2020 release, before the pandemic struck, so many of them are the usual franchise blockbusters which we would have seen this year had they not been held back. Cinematic creativity in Hollywood is a ship that has sailed long ago. If anything I see a hope here for cinematic creativity because once there are fewer multiplexes, these type of massively expensive blockbusters are less viable. Not that I want for cinemas to go.

 

[dessiato]

I think the future for cinemas is for them to become smaller, but with added value. In the U.K. I used to go to one which had a small cafe/bar/ice cream shop attached. It seemed to do well.

At the moment, due to all the shit going on, I wouldn’t go to a cinema, especially at the prices. But for a decent film, whatever that might mean, and with some added value I might. The traditional cinema experience needs to change.

 

[Supine]

Will be good for torrents but not the film industry. Tbh it looks like I'd only be interested in seeing one or two of them.

 

[Artaxerxes]

I only tended to go to the cinema a couple of times a year anyway, along with a performance or two when the Japan Foundation did some screenings in Feb/March time.

I'm just not that interested in most modern films from Hollywood.

• The Suicide Squad
• The Matrix 4
• Dune
• Godzilla vs. Kong
• Space Jam: A New Legacy.
• Little Things
• Judas and the Black Messiah
• Tom & Jerry
• Mortal Kombat
• Those Who Wish Me Dead
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
• In the Heights
• Reminiscence
• Malignant
• The Many Saints of Newark
• King Richard
• Cry Macho

This is the only one of that list that sounds interesting.

 

[platinumsage]

There was me thinking "ooh finally a biopic of Richard I that isn't centered around Robin Hood" but it's about fucking tennis.

 

[Reno]

I only tended to go to the cinema a couple of times a year anyway, along with a performance or two when the Japan Foundation did some screenings in Feb/March time.

I'm just not that interested in most modern films from Hollywood.



This is the only one of that list that sounds interesting.

There still are plenty of good films which aren't from Hollywood.

 

[Artaxerxes]

There still are plenty of good films which aren't from Hollywood.

I'm sure there are but it can be a bitch finding somewhere that plays them.

Its also 10-15 quid a pop for the cinema, minimum, so fuck that.

 

[Reno]

I'm sure there are but it can be a bitch finding somewhere that plays them.

Its also 10-15 quid a pop for the cinema, minimum, so fuck that.

Its rare for me too that I go to the cinema, I mostly go when there is a film festival or a retrospective of a filmmaker I like.

 

[Sue]

I think the future for cinemas is for them to become smaller, but with added value. In the U.K. I used to go to one which had a small cafe/bar/ice cream shop attached. It seemed to do well.

At the moment, due to all the shit going on, I wouldn’t go to a cinema, especially at the prices. But for a decent film, whatever that might mean, and with some added value I might. The traditional cinema experience needs to change.

It already has. The cinema with a nice cafe/bar/restaurant attached and possibly more luxurious/spacious seating is a pretty common thing.

 

[Sue]

I'm sure there are but it can be a bitch finding somewhere that plays them.

Its also 10-15 quid a pop for the cinema, minimum, so fuck that.

Depends where/when/how often you go. I go to the cinema a lot in normal times and never pay £15. If you're organised, lots of cinemas do a cheap night. If you're a member (which generally pays for itself if you go a handful of times a year), it's cheaper. If you pay for something like Mubi Go, you way more than make your money back.

 

[Chilli.s]

I had years of seeing children's films and sometimes despite the top price for seats it was a less than satisfactory experience, sound fucked up, patch on the screen, 3d malfunction... Now with a big telly at home im even less inclined to go and sit in cramped hard seats and shell out £25 for a couple of tickets. I suppose cinemas are difficult to convert to flats unless you like open plan with a big screen.

 

[dessiato]

It already has. The cinema with a nice cafe/bar/restaurant attached and possibly more luxurious/spacious seating is a pretty common thing.

If I ever get back to the uk I must find one.

I've got a 120" screen, HD, 3D, projector with cinema sound so I don't go to cinemas here. When I don't want that I've a 50" UHD 4K TV. Neither is quite as good as a full cinema experience though.

 

[Epona]

I used to go to the cinema a lot in the early to mid '90s when I first moved to London - you could go to any of the big cinema chains on... it was either Monday night or Tuesday night, I forget which, and it would be something like £2 - you could do 2 films the same night for a fiver per person.

Mind you the 90s were different times, eating out was a lot cheaper too (not just because everything was cheaper back in the day, but it represented a much lower % of your income to go to the cinema or for a meal) and looking back a lot of jobs and wages back then weren't too bad. (Compared to now).

Nowadays (even if you take the whole pandemic thing out of the equation) going to the cinema or out for a meal is a major fucking expense

 

[AverageJoe]

I've literally no idea why some of the multiplexes havent converted at least one screen into an egaming arena. The infrastructure is already there - just remove the front row of seats, replace them with screens, headsets and gaming chairs and you can have localised heats for games.

And if you dont think there's a market, then have a look at this - the 2017 eSports Finals in France.

It might not be our thing, but its definitely someones thing. And if cinemas dont evolve, they'll go the same way as Record Shops.

 

[Epona]

I've literally no idea why some of the multiplexes havent converted at least one screen into an egaming arena. The infrastructure is already there - just remove the front row of seats, replace them with screens, headsets and gaming chairs and you can have localised heats for games.

And if you dont think there's a market, then have a look at this - the 2017 eSports Finals in France.

It might not be our thing, but its definitely someones thing. And if cinemas dont evolve, they'll go the same way as Record Shops.

"It might not be our thing"... have you not noticed that there is a gaming forum here? Some urbanites are very much into computer games thank you very much!

 

[Sue]

Nowadays (even if you take the whole pandemic thing out of the equation) going to the cinema or out for a meal is a major fucking expense

My local cinema (the Rio in Dalston) does any film on a Tuesday for a fiver if you've got a Hackney Library card. The Rich Mix in Shoreditch used to do something similar for TH residents.

The Genesis in East London is £5.50 Monday to Thursday if you're not in the two fancy screens.

The Vue at the Angel was talking (pre-Covid) about moving to a £5.99, any film, any time model.

And these are just the ones local to me - sure other cinemas are doing similar stuff.

 

[Epona]

Yeah it is relative though (for me), £5 now when I am struggling to pay bills is in real terms 50 times more money than £2 back in the mid '90s where I had a stable income and although we thought things were shit, the gig economy to the extent it is now was still some capitalist fictional wet dream. I can't currently spend 50p on going out because I simply don't have that.

I quite like the Stratford Picturehouse but I got into an argument with security there about having my head covered in the bar (my hair is thinning a bit so I prefer to keep it covered but apparently they thought I was some middle-aged wrinkly thug granny and took exception to my head wear). It was also significantly more than £5 a ticket last time I went.

 

[redsquirrel]

Its also 10-15 quid a pop for the cinema, minimum, so fuck that.

That's not usual. Both my local multiplex and art house sell tickets at about £5

 

[Yossarian]

Warner says this will be a one-year-only thing - I hope that's indeed the case and cinema chains survive the year. I agree with David Lynch, who said "the cinema is really built for the big screen and big sound, so that a person can go into another world and have an experience," and watching a film on TV is generally a poor substitute.

A lot of those Warner movies, especially "Godzilla vs. Kong," sound like they'd be shit on the small screen but possibly good fun to see in a cinema.

 

[AverageJoe]

"It might not be our thing"... have you not noticed that there is a gaming forum here? Some urbanites are very much into computer games thank you very much!

Oh, I'm a Gamer. I meant " Paying to watch someone else play computer games"

 

[Chilli.s]

I'd go to the cinema to plug my games console into their massive screen

 

[spanglechick]

Will be good for torrents but not the film industry. Tbh it looks like I'd only be interested in seeing one or two of them.

Yes, this struck me. Good quality pirated versions will be available right from the first day of release. Which is... an interesting side effect if this is about regaining lost revenue.


I dunno. I go to cinemas for the ritual, really. I don’t watch kids films and mostly go in the afternoon, so perhaps that’s why I don’t recognise the complaints about being surrounded by irritating other people.

My nearest cinema is an Everyman. It isn’t cheap, but doesn’t seem a huge extravagance. Horses for courses, though. I keep remembering what my colleague told me he spends every month on having sky tv... I could get a year’s unlimited Everyman membership for less than 3 months of his telly package.

Anyway, I hope the cinemas make it through. I don’t enjoy pubs or going to football. I like a story played out in front of me while I sit in a large darkened room. Theatres, cinemas... these are my churches. It’s not as intense at home. It’s too quotidian.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Horses for courses, though. I keep remembering what my colleague told me he spends every month on having sky tv... I could get a year’s unlimited Everyman membership for less than 3 months of his telly package.

Was just thinking similar.

I don't go out a whole lot (even before it became a public duty) and when I do I don't drink alcohol, so have always been a bit startled by how much people will spend on drinks on a night out. Depending on where you go for both, a cinema ticket is about the same cost as a couple of drinks.

So yeah, for me cinemas take the same place as drinks do for others.

But, I'm aware it's different if you've got a kid or two in tow, along with all the snacks that come with that.

 

[xenon]

It already has. The cinema with a nice cafe/bar/restaurant attached and possibly more luxurious/spacious seating is a pretty common thing.

Yep. Although some, - you might know this one, the Picture House cinema in hackney has really daft seating. It's like old car seats on the floor.

Cinema ticket prices do vary but last time I was at the local Odeon, it was only a fiver. Apparently it has perminantly shut as of earlier this year now.

 

[krtek a houby]

Many Saints of Newark looking good