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Only Half of Americans Went To a Movie Theater In 2025, Study Finds (variety.com) 162

Posted by BeauHD from the reality-check dept.
A Pew Research Center survey found that only 53% of U.S. adults went to a movie theater in the past year, while 7% said they've never seen a movie in a theater at all. "The findings reflected a domestic box office still fighting to regain its footing since the COVID-19 pandemic, when ticket sales collapsed 81% in 2020 due to theater closures," reports Variety. From the report: In 2025, moviegoers in the U.S. and Canada bought 769.2 million tickets, less than half of the all-time peak of roughly 1.6 billion tickets sold in 2002, according to data from Nash Information Services. However, an August 2025 study field by NRG/National Research Group showed that 77% of Americans ages 12-74 went to see at least one movie in a theater in the previous 12 months.

Box office revenue peaked at an inflation-adjusted $16.4 billion in 2002, and annual ticket revenue held relatively steady through the 2000s and 2010s before falling to under $3 billion in 2020 when theaters closed for months. Last year, U.S. theaters sold just over $9 billion worth of tickets, per media analytics firm Comscore. The number represents a recovery, but nowhere near a full one, as ticket sales have been lagging around 20% below pre-pandemic levels.
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Only Half of Americans Went To a Movie Theater In 2025, Study Finds More

Only Half of Americans Went To a Movie Theater In 2025, Study Finds

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  • surprised it's that high (Score:4, Interesting)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @07:15AM (#66036746) Journal

    I am a cinephile, and genuinely enjoy the experience of going to see a film in a place with an audience, but I haven't been inside a massmarket theater for a decade. The only place worth the ticket price are specialty theaters like the Trylon & candidly, for a 100mile round trip that needs to be something I really want to see as I haven't been there since mid COVID.

    • I'm surprised too, that seems way high. I was thinking 5% at most.

      • Decades of a business model producing moves designed to insult parts of your audience and then saying that is entertainment is not a viable way to keep customers.

        It did not help that they added an unhealthy dose if sanitizing movie plots, dialogue, and characters so that they pass the more restrictive film censors in foreign markets.

        End result: Movies made with cliches, tropes, cheap exploitation plots and other uninteresting things.

    • This (Score:3)

      by Viol8 ( 599362 )

      I'm not american but I haven't been for over 20 years. Whats the point of paying extortionate ticket prices to sit in a smelly theatre with a floor covered in popcorn and gum with the usual obligatory noise makers in the audience to watch a film that'll be out on streaming - or for us old timers DVD - in 6 to 12 months anyway?

      • Me too!

        TBH I prefer Netflix & Chill (but then I don't pay much attention to Netflix...)

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Where I live in the US the theaters are quite clean and comfy with big, padded reclining chairs and fold out tables for ones food. Noise issues from other viewers are pretty minimal too. This is a big change from 20 years ago so I wonder if where ever you're from hasn't also improved since you've last been.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Viol8 ( 599362 )

          Quite possibly its changed here in the UK , but I don't fancy spending money on transport, food and the ticket price itself for all the family to find out it hasn't.

        • The theaters by me are also very clean. I suspect it's because nobody is there to dirty them.

          • Based on news stories I've read, over the last decade or so a lot of theaters did pivot to (in their phraseology) "a premium viewing experlience" in an attempt to bring back customers. However more recently I've seen stories specifically about those "premium" theaters starting to close down... so it doesn't sound like the pivot worked.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by wwphx ( 225607 )
              It would help if Hollywood made good movies or the distributors brought in good ones from other countries. But it wouldn't help my local idiot chain, they show garbage.

              Normally when I go to Phoenix, I LOVE to take in a movie at Harkins or AMC. I've been there four times in the last five months: ZERO movies seen. I despair, and am about to start ripping my 700+ movies to Jellyfin.

              • I did that with my movies years ago. Just start with doing a few a day but only get a few done. Before you know it, your collection will be digitalized and able to be viewed on many different devices.

                I miss going to the movies but not enough to pay the asking price. I can either buy a single movie ticket and HOPE the movie is good, or I can buy a month of streaming to see the same movie and even if it's shit, there will be other stuff on the platform to watch for the month. Why would I ever bother going to

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Pascoea ( 968200 )
              I, admittedly, am not a huge fan of the "theater experience". I'd rather just watch a movie at home. That being said, the closest theater to me is actually remarkably good. The ticketing experience was great, assigned seats purchased in advance online. Heated reclining leather seats, some that will allow you to raise the middle armrest so you can get closer to your companion if that is your desire. Theaters were clean and well kept. The audio and video quality was stellar. It's still expensive as hell, an

      • TBH I've been maybe three times in the last 5 years and the theater was clean and didn't smell. The seats now are large leather reclining things. It's several orders of magnitude better than it was pre-pandemic for the most part.

        Still expensive though. And if someone is sitting behind you munching popcorn there's not a whole lot you can do about it.

    • I'm an American living in Egypt. Here in New Cairo at the richest mall, I pay 170 EGP ($3.25) for a movie ticket, 20 EGP ($0.38) for 500 mL of water, and 100 EGP ($2.00) for a large popcorn.

      What about you???

      • Re:surprised it's that high (Score:4, Insightful)

        by lucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) <daryl.introspect@net> on Thursday March 12, 2026 @10:48AM (#66037086) Homepage
        What about me? I pay more so I don't have to live in the middle east. It's worth it.

      • Mass market theater prices are extortionate.
        https://www.cabletv.com/entert... [cabletv.com]
        Avg movie ticket price here in MN is $18 (I would have said higher, as https://www.amctheatres.com/mo... [amctheatres.com] "Southdale" is a common mainstream theater and that's $22/ticket.

        And then concessions - a large bucket of popcorn and large soda are another $30

        OTOH you have delightful gems like Trylon - classic movies, etc, reruns, whole series like "Alfred Hitchcock films" or the Ghibli collections - https://www.trylon.org/ [trylon.org]
        $8 for a seat. Con

        • Those aren't extortion rates, they are necessary prices to be able to keep running and have a bit profit to be able to continue in the near future. It's sad they need to ask such high prices, but it is a necessity to keep afloat. If each theatre would be packed every single day, every (evening) showing, they could lower the price, but most seats stay empty these days. Also you might forget, a large part of the ticket goes to the distributor, most money need to come from food and drinks.

          • -1 pedant.
            You know the term 'extortionate' can be used as hyperbole, to refer to a price that's ridiculously high, right? It's a synonym for exorbitant.

            That said, explain to me why AMC theaters have to charge $24/ticket while the Trylon can get by with $8 tickets?
            From https://www.facebook.com/watch... [facebook.com]
            Trylon: "As a nonprofit cinema, keeping our ticket rate accessible to everyone is a priority, and we've kept our standard ticket at $8 for 15 years. In that time the cost of 35mm film rental, shipping, project

            • Trylon doesn't show any new movie, only old movies, and getting a used 35mm print of an old movie for commercial use is a fraction of the cost of getting new movies. You're comparing apples and oranges.

            • AMC have to charge $18 for a movie because they are centrally located in high rent areas and donâ(TM)t require a 100 mile trip to some run down âoenext to a railroad track and behind the auto shopâ single story shack of a theater playing cheap old movies?

              And are you sure the pedant here isnâ(TM)t you?

          • It's not my problem. That's their problem. When the ticket cost more then the dvd will in 6-12 months, or I can catch the same movie on streaming in 3 months while also getting access to everything else on that streaming platform, the theater experience just isn't worth the asking price.

            It also doesn't help that a lot of movies just aren't that great anymore. $22 for a single ticket? GTFO with that shit.

            • Of course it's your problem, it's not like your costs go down every year and you stopped asking for a raise years ago, NOT. Maybe it isn't your problem, but you are being very unrealistic regarding the cost of running a theatre.

            • A shot of liquor costs as much as half a 750ml bottle, yet people still go to bars, because they understand thereâ(TM)s more to that drink than just the retail price.

              Maybe the real issue is that youâ(TM)re just cheap (or poor) so you arenâ(TM)t really a movie theaterâ(TM)s customer anyway. Why would they bare the costs of running a business, paying employee and benefit taxes, rising insurance rates and property tax, expose themselves to lawsuits every week, just to break even charging yo

              • Or maybe theaters are just on the wrong side of the value proposition. Once you have absorbed the cost of a nice big TV and sound system, the only advantages of theaters are instant gratification for new releases and a screen larger than you can have at home.

                The disadvantages, however, are numerous. Cost, inconvenience, 30 minutes of ads, annoyances from other patrons, inability of pausing, inability to adjust sound level, inability to rewind if you missed something, inability to rewatch, ad inifitum...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Pascoea ( 968200 )

          Avg movie ticket price here in MN is $18

          Hey, another Twin Cities Resident! This is the last theater I went to: https://www.amctheatres.com/mo... [amctheatres.com] and it pretty much matches your assessment. I mean, it's a nice theater, clean, comfortable, ticketing is easy, etc. but the prices are insane. Nothing to drop $100 for night out for a mediocre movie. I'll stay on my couch. (Although, that Trylon seems intriguing, I'll have to check it out.)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by xeoron ( 639412 )
      I think I went to 1 or 2 last year. Most films I weight is it worth the cost of going, dealing with parking, all the fees just to buy a ticket... often I do not care enough and rather wait for it to hit VOD or a streaming service.

    • I enjoy going to a movie theater too. Rather my wife does, and I like going with her. But there hasn't been anything worth seeing for adults. We are into action/dramas for adults but it has all been horror movies or family movies or superhero movies. We enjoyed Black Bag, and F1 (as much as I didn't want to like F1). I went to Wicked as a family thing but refused to go to the second one as I didn't feel it did a good job of reproducing the "world of Oz" and I'm not that into musicals anyway. That is l

    • It's been over a year since I've been to a theater. Maybe over two.
      How about a movie worth watching instead of "kid movies"? I also don't want to endure a half hour of ads before the movie starts.
      I'm staying home and watching movies in my living room. I don't know how Hollywood stays in business with so many crap movies.

      • I also don't want to endure a half hour of ads before the movie starts.

        THIS!!!! I already paid to much to see the movie and get popcorn and a soda, and now you want to force me to watch ads and then previews? FFS, no!

    • I like movies. I like seeing movies in theaters. The one near me is pretty nice: clean, well maintained, not excessively expensive. I am free on Mondays, so I can catch a matinee and have the theater to myself for the most part. There is a Pizza My Heart and a Cold Stone Creamery near the theater, so pizza for lunch, movie, and ice cream after -a decent way to spend a Monday afternoon.

      I think I went once or twice last year. Maybe.

      There just has not been anything that grabbed my attention. :(

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by keltor ( 99721 ) *
      To be honest, that sounds impossibly high. Even when I was a child (1980s) I didn't know that many adults who watched movies.

      I guarantee you that people answered this because of the questions they were asked:

      https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/SR_26.03.06_movies_questionnaire.pdf

      I 'd be willing to be people who watched movies on Netflix/etc would also say that they went to a theater to watch a movie. This is why surveys are not research.

    • I am a cinephile, and genuinely enjoy the experience of going to see a film in a place with an audience, but I haven't been inside a massmarket theater for a decade. The only place worth the ticket price are specialty theaters like the Trylon & candidly, for a 100mile round trip that needs to be something I really want to see as I haven't been there since mid COVID.

      Is that the reason, or is it more like there hasn't been too many great movies this century?

  • That's 50% more than I thought. How much of it happens exclusively on Valentine's?

    • Yeah, I saw that statistic and wondered what the problem was. That still sounds like a really good business to be in.

  • Which half they are talking about. The brain half or the assh*le half? Because, you see, this distinction makes a world of a difference and provides a great indication on the content qualities.

  • It's not the pandemic (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gratuit ( 861174 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @07:45AM (#66036774)
    It's not covid that killed the theaters, it's the incessant talking and cell phone use. If I wanted to listen to someone make a phone call, I could hang out somewhere else for cheaper. The response has been to increase volume to the point of discomfort. I will pass.
    • I was one of the people who did go a movie theater last year. After I threw enough ice cubes, he finally put the damn phone away. I don't know who he was, just that he was old enough for me to be disappointed that he couldn't put it away.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by nazrhyn ( 906126 )
        Be careful. Someone got shot and killed for throwing popcorn at another moviegoer, and then the shooter was acquitted...

        https://abcnews.com/US/cop-acq... [abcnews.com]
        • No worries, I wasn't going to waste popcorn on the jerk. And he was several rows in front, couldn't see me.

          Besides, in that story, the guy who got shot was the one on his phone. Juries know who's at fault.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Goddamnferret ( 2556710 )
      My last time going to a theater was Holtsville, NY and some dude changed his kids diaper in the aisle, then tucked the dirty one against the wall far from himself. I'm good watching movies at home now.

    • Agreed; however, the real problem is that the masses are truly poor now. If these poor people manage to come up with $20 to spend in a discretionary manner (they won't), they will not be spending it at a movie theater.

      In other words, no matter how pleasant the experience, millions will still not be attending. Casual things are no longer affordable. Like the penny, the common person has been left behind.

  • Theaters Used to be special (Score:5, Insightful)

    by n2hightech ( 1170183 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @07:46AM (#66036776)
    Movie length has gotten so long that they need to bring back the intermission. I miss the intermission. Who wants to buy a big drink to enjoy with popcorn and then be uncomfortable for the last hour of the movie. If I wait until it comes out on line I can stop the show and take a break get a snack. Why go to a theater where you have to get up and miss part of the show to relieve yourself? Theaters screwed themselves when they eliminated the intermission. It cut the profits of extra concession sales and drove most viewers home for comfort.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by J-1000 ( 869558 )

      I miss the intermission

      Me too. I miss a lot of what made early theaters special: crowded rooms, decorated auditoriums. A lot of people like the recliners but I think they take away from the experience, making it feel like you are in a sparsely populated room even when most of the seats are filled. A rush to refill concessions at intermissions is another one of those experiences that may not be obviously desirable, but I think it would add to the atmosphere. And it would sell more concessions to boot. Win / win.

      • Just to toss in a bit on film trivia, those recliners were invented by Alan Hale Sr., who played Little John in the Errol Flynn version of Robin Hood, and was The Skipper's father.

    • Movie length has gotten so long that they need to bring back the intermission

      I have to really want to see a movie to see one 2.5 hours long in a theater. Once the movie hits 3+ hours I'm watching it at home.

      Doesn't help that inside the typical 3+ hour slog is a good 2 hour movie waiting for the fluff to be edited out.

    • The movies do have intermissions, they just moved them to the start of the movie instead of the middle.

  • I'm old and cranky (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @07:50AM (#66036780)

    Why would I ever want to pay through the nose just to have a screen bigger than I need, sound painfully louder than I want, while surrounded by people I don't know, with a significant chance that one or more of those strangers will do something inconsiderate to subtract from the experience?

    No thanks. I have a big screen and the Internet, I can pour a drink and make popcorn, and my couch is big enough to seat the people I want to share the screen with.

    • Re:I'm old and cranky (Score:4, Insightful)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot.worf@net> on Thursday March 12, 2026 @08:27AM (#66036810)

      No thanks. I have a big screen and the Internet, I can pour a drink and make popcorn, and my couch is big enough to seat the people I want to share the screen with.

      Which probably explains it.

      The 53% are city dwellers - think New York and LA and likely apartment and other high-density living arrangements.

      Big screen? Doesn't work in a shoebox. And big sound? Forget it - the neighbors will be banging on the walls.

      If you live in a suburban neighborhood where you need a car to do basic errands, sure it makes sense to question why go to the theatres. If you live in a shoebox apartment because that's all that's affordable, then a theatre, expensive as it is, is better than the 50" TV and TV speaker experience.

      (Of course, old and cranky describes why you're living in your house in suburbia. And why spending seems bass-ackwards. It's because when you were younger, housing was cheap, and luxuries (laptops, TVs, etc) were much more expensive. These days, housing is basically unobtainium, but luxuries are cheap - a nice laptop, a nice phone, etc., cost way less today than they ever did. )

      • (Of course, old and cranky describes why you're living in your house in suburbia. And why spending seems bass-ackwards. It's because when you were younger, housing was cheap, and luxuries (laptops, TVs, etc) were much more expensive. These days, housing is basically unobtainium, but luxuries are cheap - a nice laptop, a nice phone, etc., cost way less today than they ever did. )

        Supply and demand. We added 50 million people (1/6 of the existing US population) in the last fifteen years; 20 million of them over just four years. You can't build homes fast enough to satisfy that demand. And in case you hadn't noticed, we ain't making any new land to put those homes on.

        Want to guess why BlackRock is buying up all those single family homes all over the country? They didn't make all that money by making bad bets. They know prices are only heading up.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cruff ( 171569 )
      I share your sentiments. Haven't been a regular movie goer for at least 30 years. When I saw Avatar in theater the sound was painfully loud. I wrote letters complaining about it to the theater chain, the distributor and James Cameron's company. Only heard back from the theater chain with a reply that couldn't even get the details of theater where I saw it right. The ticket prices have rise beyond what I care to pay and I can't tolerate large amounts of sugary soda and that fake butter flavored popcorn anym

    • Invest in Miracle Ear. Theaters must be catering to the headphones at max volume crowd. The last movie I saw was Nosferatu and it was loud enough to require earplugs.

  • Hollywood is part of the problem (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Molten Heart ( 5842394 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @08:00AM (#66036790)
    I love going to the movie theater. I even used to subscribe to one of those clubs that let you see several movies a week for like $20 a month. I found that I wasn't interested in going to many of the movies that were playing. When Hollywood, or whomever is making movies these days, offer something worth going to see, I'm there.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Gilmoure ( 18428 )

      Thinking back, 95% of the films I've seen in theaters the last 20 years have been specticle films (action/sf: marvel, star wars, dune) where it's fun to be overwhelmed by light and sound.

      The other 5% are offbeat films like Wes Anderson or Coen Brothers, where I want to support the film makers. Sadly, judging by the almost empty theaters (nice experience for us) is that most folks aren't going to theaters for such films.

  • movie. (Score:3)

    by gary s ( 5206985 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @08:39AM (#66036822)
    I enjoy going to a movie but its become a large expense.... Ticket prices, Fee to buy tickets even if you buy them at the theater. Popcorn/drink prices way to high and date night with the wife is $50 for just the movie. Now a days, wait a month or two and its streaming either free on a service I subscribe to or less than $5 if I have to pay for it. Few movies now a days are worth $50 to see.. $5 and a short wait is well worth it to me.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sloppy ( 14984 )

      Date tip: dinner first, then a movie.

    • I enjoy going to a movie but its become a large expense....

      No, it is not a large expense. You just don't have enough money. If your pay had kept up with, or exceeded inflation, you would have more discretionary income. Instead, you are a slave. Literal whips and chains not needed.

  • Half of Americans? With all the very American ways to watch something nowadays, Netflix and the likes, Youtube and the likes, torrents and the like, you tell me that half of Americans still go to the theater! Very surprising, to say the least.

  • My wife was excited to see Dust Bunny and so we went to the theatre. 20 minutes after showtime the movie still hadn't started. When we went to ask, they told us the system wasn't allowing the movie to play and they were on the phone with tech support. We got a refund and eventually saw it a few months later at home. So DRM killed our theatre experience.

    • This happened at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2013. We had a screening of 'Cloud Atlas' (which iirc was a very recent movie then) and the hard drive had been delivered and plugged in, but the distributor had given the unlock key for the wrong time. It took about an hour to track down the person in Los Angeles (mid-afternoon in Scotland, early morning there) who could issue a new key.

  • Best to stay out of a place that's serving up commercials that can be up to a half hour. Also many movies are designed not for their art or creativity but for how well they will sell. I'd rather see a movie that didn't get written for the amount of tickets it will sell.

  • Most theaters near where I live have given up, some are closed during slower days (M-W) and some only have one showing per evening. Everything is falling apart in the theaters, they are retro but not in the good way, with torn seat cushions, out-of-date bathroom fixtures, etc. I'm not a particularly luxury-oriented person, but I do have my limits. They seem to be just milking the last few remaining $$ until retirement and are not investing at all in the experience.

    There IS a market for in-person movie exp

  • Subject (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MBGMorden ( 803437 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @10:13AM (#66036996)

    Realistically, the home experience has just gotten too good these days to bother going to the theater. I'm 44 - when I was a kid a 25" TV screen was huge. When I was in college I took some extra financial aid refund money and bought a 32" CRT television for our room and everyone felt like that TV was comically large. Our dorm room was the place everyone came to watch TV because we had "the big TV".

    Now 32" is tiny, and adjusted for inflation I can get an 85" TV for almost half of what I paid for that TV. For $150-200 you can add in a soundbar with a decent subwoofer and have damned good home audio. The TV's are also laid out in a better aspect ratio compared to film so letterboxing isn't as extreme, and the resolution is through the roof compared to old NTSC.

    Realistically while at home viewing used to be a pale imitation of the quality you got at a theater, these days the home experience is on par, and you don't have to worry about other people talking or ruining the movie. A bag of popcorn at home is $0.45.

    Its just a better experience at home.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sloppy ( 14984 )

      Its just a better experience at home.

      I think this is the essential truth.

      But even so, that still leaves theaters a niche: they're an out-of-the-house activity, when you explicitly want to leave the house for some reason. (e.g. house AC ain't keeping up with the summer temps, going stir-crazy from always being at home (especially if you WFH), or even just needing to get the fuck away from That Other Person for a while even though you love them.)

      You've decided to leave the house: now what? There are lots of o

  • Home watching is way better (Score:3)

    by juancn ( 596002 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @10:46AM (#66037084) Homepage

    I mean, the picture and sound quality at home movie watching has gotten so much better that dealing with all the strangers in the cinema and all that hassle makes no sense.

    In fact most HDR movies are way better in a large, modern TV than on a cinema screen.

    And even mid-range sound bars with subwoofers can approximate the audio experience very well, algorithmic audio does magic with Atmos data.

  • Why Would We Go? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ThomasBHardy ( 827616 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @10:57AM (#66037104)

    - Ticket prices are outrageous
    - Concession prices are outrageous
    - People use their phones during the movie
    - The sound is so absurdly loud it's damaging to the ears

    Tell me again what the benefit is?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dskoll ( 99328 )

      My local movie theatre has a very strict no-phone policy. They will kick you out if you use your phone during the movie. And the theatre sets the sound to reasonable levels. I don't understand why all theatres can't do these simple things.

  • I'm ok paying decent money for a nice theater, a popcorn and a drink. I'm not ok with other people talking, checking their phones and lighting up the theater from a screen, coming on way late and walking in front of everybody. The movie experience is fine with the exception of other humans that I didn't come to the theater with.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dskoll ( 99328 )

      In that case, theatre management is not doing its job. My local theatre will kick people out if they disturb other patrons by talking or using their phone. They make the policy very clear and are pretty strict about enforcing it.

  • Yeah the wrong half (Score:3)

    by 50000BTU_barbecue ( 588132 ) on Thursday March 12, 2026 @11:45AM (#66037260) Journal

    The talkers, phone users, vapers...

    I'm never setting foot in a movie theater ever again

  • ...that deserve to die
    At one time, the tech required them, but today's home theater tech is better in every way
    The theater experience sucks.
    Drive across town, find a parking spot, pay to park, wait in line for a ticket, wait in line for obscenely overpriced snacks, sit in a very uncomfortable seat while being forced to watch endless commercials.

    Even worse, there is no way to pause or rewatch a confusing part or take a break to go to the toilet.
    Modern movies are mixed in a way that makes it difficult to hear

  • It has been about 6 years since I went to the cinema.

    Now, if Hollywood would produce some interesting movies - even those involving Pinewood and Shepperton, or even New Zealand - then that might be a reason to go. But no, there hasn't been anything worth the 3-day's income cost of going to the local fleapit.

  • Perhaps they could gouge less?

  • $20+ tickets x 2-4 people in the average family, + $50 for refreshments. Is it worth it? In most cases, no.

  • Movies, comfortable seating, drinks, snacks, a chatty audience (children and elderly parents), and Covid.

    P.S. now that I think about it, I might go to the movies by myself just to avoid having to listen to my family talking through everything.

  • I'm an early 50's Gen-Xer and one of my big issues with Hollywood is simply that they're not very focused on telling stories my generation wants to hear. By that, I mean, there's a lot of the cheesy horror or sight-gag comedy stuff out there that I'm not very entertained by. And stories about the relationships or struggles of people young enough to be my kids? I'm simply not the target market for that content.

    It feels like when they do pay attention to people in my age group, it's just a money-grab with a

  • Big screen? I have a large TV at home.
    Snacks? Cheaper at home and much better quality.
    Schedule? Whenever I want.
    Lines? None.
    Other rude moviegoers? None.
    Parking fees. (This one used to really piss me off) None.
    Driving time? None.

    So, tell me, dear theater owners, what could possibly motivate me to bother with you at this point?

  • i wanted to catch tron: ares in the theater since it would be cinematic and fun. alas, it was in theaters for about 2 weeks and i didn't get out in time, and then it was gone. i ended up watching it streaming instead

  • Went to the Movies in 2025, found the theatre more rundown and more expensive than ever. Have not been back so far in 2026.

    Why leave the house for that?

  • Huh! (Score:2)

    by dskoll ( 99328 )

    I live in Canada and I go to a movie theatre at least 2-3 times per year. I like the experience, and our local theatre is clean and comfortable with great sound and an excellent screen. It feels like more of an occasion to go out to a movie than just watch one at home.

    I never buy food or drink there, though. I either do without or smuggle my own in. And I don't subscribe to any streaming services, so I can justify the cost.

  • Projected cinema is incapable of matching the high dynamic range of modern TVs and modern movies. Most cinemas are still only 2K, but their lack of HDR is much more obvious and important than their lack of 4K. The home viewing experience is substantially better in every way but screen size, and this is reducing the incentive to patronise cinemas. Apparently there are a very few cinemas with huge, direct-view LED screens which are expensive, even by the standards of commercial cinemas. There needs to be

  • I have found the experience more enjoyable lately. Fewer people at the showing means it's easier to find good seating and be spaced apart from the rest of the audience. Generally less likelihood of talkers, people unwrapping candy, and that farting lady who used to laugh like Roseanne at every goddamn scene. Seriously, fuck that lady.

  • We have a nice little 6-screen theater about 2.5 miles driving from my house. I used to say, "I see everything", but now just "almost everything."

    The theater itself is marvelous. Near lay-flat, very, very soft plushy upholstered recliners, everything is spotlessly clean, and I just love it.

    The movies themselves seem to have found myriad ways to piss me off. Or bore me. The big "Marvel Universe" goes and kills off a CHARACTER. I'm especially peeved about Iron Man. Somewhat less so about Captain

  • Last time I went was to see Maverick. Only thing I see that is worth it is Project Hail Mary.

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