Will Friday night openings ever be able to be enjoyed at home?

That is kinda delicate. Say the studio did that and then the theaters would see dip in visitors. So the theaters prevent this by saying that if you do this we will simply stop showing your movies at all. And the studios are fucked because a lot of people actually go to the movies for the experience.

Keep in mind that the first week a movie is out 90%+ of the ticket sales goes to the studio. Week 2 is around 80%. In a month it is a 50–50 split. That is why popcorn and soda is so expensive. Damn near all of the theaters profits come from concession sales. We had movies where one person showed up, we lost money on that. It cost more to in electricity to run the film then we got from that single person. And it was common for us to run movies without a single person watching it. We had to start it on time and we didn’t know if a person would show up 20 minutes late.

I’m not sure what I was talking about. Oh, don’t expect same day streaming in the future. It isn’t going to happen.

I was a Projectionist/Manager/Technician for over three years at one of the largest theater chains in the United States. We had a lot of spare time to talk about this stuff.

Watching movies at home will never be able to be enjoyed at home. It’s like the 3D experience at home. I’ve tried watching movies in 3D at home and it’s wayy different. You could mock the experience and it might work, but it’s a different feeling. The drive there, sitting in a huge group of people, the conversations on the drive home. Those are my favorite experiences. Oh, the previews, too.

right, I know….There will still be people that go to the movies and enjoy the “theater” experience. But lets say nothing changes as far as movie attendance goes or even if it dips just a little bit, couldn’t the theaters make more money then as well because there are also those people that just don’t go to the movie theaters for whatever reason that would enjoy watching it from home?

There may be enough profit in it just from people who want to see the film but don’t want to go out. While there are many who enjoy the “experience” of going to a theater, there are many who consider it a hassle, don’t like crowds, etc.

Well in that case, :)
IFC does do this a bit. There are independent films that IFC charges you to watch on demand the same day they come out, on cable. These are a select few films they choose. I guess they could make a little extra money with the people who don’t want to go out and save gas. I don’t see it becoming a large trend. I hope I gave you a better answer.

Sorry, I re-read the question and got what you were getting at. :)

@stranger_in_a_strange_land right, and those people nowadays are watching those movies at streaming sites that have pirated copies of the movies although most are poor quality. So wouldn’t it behoove the movie industry to cash in on this and let those stay at home people pay a little money to watch a good quality of the new release. I know there will still be cheapskates but they could at least pull in a few of the “stay at home” types

@py_sue sounds good to me :)

@earthduzt Exactly my point. I’d actually be willing to pay more than theater prices to avoid the crowds. I could eat, drink and smoke what I please and not have to sit in the dark with strange people.

Jeez. Going to a movie and dinner gets me out of the house. I like doing it for that reason alone.

Worriedguy, i agree. if it ever comes to the point that we are too lazy to go to a movie, than thats the end. half the fun is preparing to see a movie and what would couples do for a date, if they didn’t have the movies to go to. some things in life are too extreme and having a movie party at home is one of them. not needed. at least, going out to see a movie gets some of us off our a__ and gets our blood to moving, if for nothing else.

Nothing can replace the movie going experience for me. Some movies, IMO, require the big screen and the atmosphere, at least for the first viewing.