Commentary Consumers and Movies: Equally Watching in Theaters and on Streaming?

 

Commentary

Consumers And Movies: Equally Watching in Theaters and on Streaming?

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 7 hours ago

Should we stop worrying now that theatrical movies are disappearing into streaming platforms' libraries? It depends. 

For a few years now, entertainment consumers have put movie producers on notice that they consume movies and other entertainment content in a growing diversity of platforms -- in theaters, at home on streaming platforms, YouTube, social media, where and whenever. 

Looking specifically at high-profile theatrical successes like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” from a year ago and this year's “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine," at times it seems these strong-performing movie titles have pulled the theatrical film business up by its bootstraps by themselves. 

This all comes while looking at bottom-line box-office results, which for this summer box-office period -- the first Friday in May through Labor Day)  -- was down 10% this year (landing at $3.6 billion) versus a year ago, according to IMDb's Box Office Mojo.

But remember this followed year-to-date box office, which was down 29%!

That last number should be taken in context. The writers' and actors' strikes began in the summer a year ago -- creating havoc, including major delays that cascaded over movie scheduling.

For instance, Walt Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine" was scheduled to be released in May and was actually released in July. Those extra two months could have added box-office revenues, taking full advantage of the big summer period of consumer activity.

Underperformers include Universal’s "The Fall Guy" and Warner Bros.' "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." At the same time the period was bolstered by two sturdy -- mid-level successes:  Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” ($335.6 million) and Universal’s “Twisters” ($259.6 million).

So where does this leave streaming movies? A current reading of all streaming content shows just one original movie in the top ten of all streaming content -- Netflix/Paramount+ “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back”  in tenth place, 697 million minutes (July 29-August 4).

Overall, streaming platforms recently hit an all-time high in terms of the top share result -- over 40% versus broadcast TV and cable TV. 

Although streaming movies don’t come close in overall viewing minutes to that of original and acquired TV series programming, here’s something to consider going forward.  Streaming platforms have been shortening the wait time for theatrical movies this year.

The first two months of 2024 have seen the average time between a theatrical-wide release and those movies' streaming debut shrink to 68 days from 90 days, according to estimates. 

Analysis suggests this could be bad news for theaters going forward.

Other factors: Right now the U.S. box office is down 14% from a year ago -- season to date -- and 27% from 2019 (pre-pandemic levels) -- at $5.7 billion. 

Is this because of streaming, as well as some moderation among movie titles that are released? 

Against this backdrop, streaming continues to climb with what would seem rising overall viewership for all content -- including movies. 

All of this begs the question: Are consumers really pulling back on consuming films at movie theater houses, or is there another piece of the puzzle that has yet to reveal itself?