Movie Studios Are Shifting Back to Theater-Only Release Method: Will This Work in 2022?

The movie theater industry was one of the hardest-hit businesses during the pandemic. After all, movie theaters were one of the first businesses forced to shut their doors and one of the last to get the green light to reopen.
Even after reopening, movie theater attendance began as a slow trickle, which left many theater owners wondering about the future of the industry. These concerns were exacerbated by the fact that some movie distributors were opting for same-day streaming release dates, which certainly affected theater attendance.
Even movies that were predicted to bring in large crowds, such as Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and Disney’s The King’s Man, had lackluster results. Just when movie theater owners began to think attendance would never reach pre-pandemic levels, along came Spider-Man: No Way Home. Not only was the latest Marvel film able to pack theaters across the country, but it was the first movie of 2021 to break the $1 billion mark – a feat accomplished in just two weeks.

Certainly, this is good news for the movie theater industry, but it still has a long way to go to get back to normal. While the industry saw a 91% increase in revenues for 2021, its figures are still 61% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
What the industry has learned is that moviegoers will come back to the theater for the right movies. The main blockbuster films, such as Spider-Man, will still bring people to the theater. The good news is that 2022 is set to be a year full of blockbuster films, such as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Jurassic World: Dominion, and Thor: Love and Thunder. Additionally, most distributors, including Disney and Warner Bros. are committed to shifting back to a theater-only release. Both of these factors are good news for the movie industry.

It’s also learned that today’s moviegoers are younger, at least for now. By far, older attendees still seem hesitant to return to the theater. This is probably why Spielberg’s West Side Story was only able to generate $10.6 billion during its opening weekend. The industry is going to have to do more work promoting the safety of theaters to get these older moviegoers back or risk losing this sector of the audience to streaming services.
It’s likely that 2022 will be another year of ups and downs for the movie theater industry, but most are hoping to at least see profits for the first time in two years.
