2020 has seen the decline of businesses across the U.S. and around the world. But while many have felt the pressure of COVID-19 and lacked the support they needed, perhaps none is more prominent than the theater industry. The venues whose entire focus is gathering groups together to enjoy entertainment has understandably faced its toughest year in modern memory.
In perhaps the tragic culmination of an entirely downward trending year, domestic revenue from movie theaters has clocked in at $2.2 billion. Indeed, that sounds like a respectable number, until it's compared to 2019's year-end report, which recorded a revenue of $11.4 billion. That's an 80% decrease, and while it's not entirely surprising, it's certainly disheartening. This puts 2020's revenue at its lowest since the early 80s, or even the late 70s.
December is normally a pretty lucrative time for movie theaters, with plenty of moviegoers crowding out of the cold and into the cozy cinemas to enjoy a holiday feature. Naturally, that isn't happening this year. Sure, some theaters have remained open in defiance of health and safety guidelines in an attempt to court what customers they can, but that still isn't enough. Even the weekend's most profitable film, The Croods: A New Age from DreamWorks, only brought in $3.2 million. Other markets around the world, such as China, have had more luck due to their much more aggressive and serious handling of the pandemic, which optimistically should give the US an idea of how things could be.
This drastic fall comes from a number of factors, and while all of them stem from the same reason (reason: 2020 is a big meanie, in so many words), it's kind of daunting to see them all come together. First, there's the virus itself, which causes many people to recognize the threat it faces and stay away from public spaces out of concern for the safety of those around them. This results in fewer people going to theaters, which lowers theater revenue. Less revenue means less incentive for movies to release on the big screen.
From there, filmmakers begin to recognize it's not worth even trying for theaters, and more begin to release exclusively on streaming services. Great for people self-isolating, but terrible for the theater industry's bottom line. Even if theaters could shift to a streaming format, where they sell tickets for a one-time stream or something similar, they aren't going to make back what they lost because tickets aren't where the money comes from. That's where the famously expensive concession stand comes in. Without people coming to the theaters themselves, nobody is buying snacks, and that's why so many theater businesses are in danger of closing forever.
It's a rough time for everyone, and there's no guarantee any of it will be fixed when the vaccine finally achieves widespread distribution. But hopefully, the industry will take lessons from it all, and plan ahead in the future so such a crash won't be quite as devastating the next time.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter