The coronavirus has changed a lot of aspects of our everyday society. People this time last year were watching “Toy Story 4” in movie theaters across the country, whereas now, there are not a lot of options out there for that.
When the coronavirus shut down the theaters, it changed the way consumers buy and stream movies.
We have seen this in movies like “Frozen II,” “Onward” and “Artemis Fowl” that made their way to Disney+ during the pandemic. “Frozen II” had already been made available in movie theaters last fall and was made available on Disney+ in February this year.
Movies such as “End of Sentence,” “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Trolls World Tour” were made available for purchase and to rent on iTunes and the Apple TV app too.
So what does that mean for the movie theater industry?
Honestly, I think it will be the slow beginning of the end for it. If there is one thing we have learned, it’s that a lot of people have come to love watching movies at home, especially since streaming a movie on a streaming service gives customers the option of the pause button. It’s a perfect time to get more snacks and use the bathroom.
Meanwhile, the device that everyone needs to watch all of these movies is their Apple TV. It’s the one device where they can get virtually any movie possible. If they need to rent from the Apple TV app, they can do so. If they want to find a movie on a streaming service like Netflix or Prime Video, they can start to watch it. There’s no need to travel anywhere, get stuck in traffic, deal with people in line for tickets, paying for those tickets, Â paying for overpriced snacks and you wouldn’t have to deal with noisy individuals in the theater.
We know this now more than ever and I think it’s going to leave a permanent impact on the movie industry and, like it has always done, it will have to adapt to those (people like me) who do not want to go to a movie theater to watch the newest releases.
Plus, now that AMC Theaters, who has over 1,000 movie theaters, has a ban on Universal films, it’s going to make people want to spend more time at home, watching the movies there (and renting them through a streaming service like the Apple TV app).
The coronavirus has had plenty of negatives, but I do believe that it will improve the movie industry and improve it for the better.
