Why Going to the Movies is Financially Irresponsible

Why Going To The Movies is Financially Irresponsible

Movies are a fun date night, family event or escape with friends where you can get some popcorn and snacks and get lost into a world for a few hours. This experience has gotten increasingly expensive meanwhile the comparable at home experience has gotten increasingly better. Televisions and projectors are at all high time affordability and surround sound speakers are more accessible than ever with simple sound bars alone drastically improving sound quantity. Sofas are more comfortable than sticky movie seats, food can be whatever you’d like and much cheaper. The competitive advantage of the movie theater experience is shrinking. Yes theaters have improved their seats and nothing can beat their popcorn machines but nonetheless, the gap is closing. 

Home Theaters

What used to be exclusively reserved for the wealthy is now so prevalent that even average joes have a 65 inch TV and a half decent speaker system. The popularity of home theaters has been growing steadily year over year due to advancement in technology, more affordable equipment and the rise of streaming services. This has been shrinking the gap between the theater experience and the at home experience.

The Theater Advantage

Theaters are not going down without a fight though. There were the 3D movies craze for a while which you can only experience in a theater (Honestly I would pay extra to not see a movie in 3D) but those are phasing out as more of a gimmick. They have tried 4D or 5D (D-Box) with moving seats and blowing air or water at guests (still this all sounds awful to me) but one that has stuck is the UltraAVX or reserved seating with better seats. It is nice to know where you will sit so you and your friends are not stuck being separated or cranking your necks at the front seats. 

The Theatrical Window

The problem is, if you are slow to get to the theater or lazy, or just patient enough, the movie will come out to streaming in a few months. Back in the day you would normally have to wait close to a year to see a movie before a movie would come out on streaming or DVD (olden days). But that release window has been getting smaller and smaller over the years with Covid accelerated even more. It is called a theatrical window or the time when a movie is exclusively in the theater. Movie studios know a movie earns most of the money in the first few weeks, so when it starts to slow down they want to license it to a streaming service while the movie is still hot or fresh.  

For example, if you missed the Barbie movie released July 21, 2023 you only need to wait till September 12, 2023 or 2 months to catch up on all the culture references and why everyone is obsessed with Ken. This is an insanely short amount of time which is great for streaming but horrible for theaters.  

Movie Analogy 

It's like being invited to a nice steak dinner for $40, but if you simply wait 2 months being able to get the same steak delivered to your house for free or with a subscription you are already paying for. Sure it won’t be as hot or fresh, but it's still a (pretty much) free steak dinner. (side note, it's a terrible idea to order a steak on Ubereats). This is like going to the movies. Simply wait a few months and you get to see the movie for free without ever leaving your house. This is because movies depreciate in value extremely quickly and like I said before, studios want to capitalize and milk the movie while it's still valuable. 

Value of Movies

You wouldn’t pay $20 to go see Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy in the theater since it came out in 2004 you most likely have already seen it. You can never experience a movie for the first time again thus losing some of the novelty. Going to a new movie is a novelty that wears off the more you go to the movies as the big screen and sounds become less exciting. 

This lowers the value of going to the movies and incentives only going to big blockbusters that will fully appreciate the sound and big screen or culture event movies. The ticket price of a blockbuster is identical to a comedy or chick flick making it less appealing to fully enjoy the whole line up of movies available. Why pay full price for a movie, which is pushing $20 (used to be $4 back in the day) when it will simply be free in a few months where you can enjoy a full couch, can pause, add subtitles, be in comfortable pajamas and enjoy any food item at a fraction of the cost of concessions.

Unique Value Adds

Drive in Theater has a bit of a unique offering since it's in your car and you cannot experience it at home. Also Theaters are trying to make a unique offering with the Dune 2 popcorn bucket exclusive to seeing the movie in the theater which is a great idea. Having unique experience like dressing up for a movie like Harry Potter and waiting in line to see it, is what makes movie going exciting.     

Exclusive Adds

The value proposition is simply shrinking over time and the theater is partly responsible. If movies were more affordable, the theatrical window was longer, had better seating, exclusive food and drink options (like DisneyLand's Dole Whip ) or sadly if TVs were not so pervasive in the average consumer's house, then maybe the drive to get in your car to go to the theater might be a bit stronger.

 

Going to the movies in its current form, is simply reserved for cultural phenomenon and blockbusters. The difference between going to the movies vs watching at home being so small it makes more sense to be patient and get that free steak delivered in a few months. Free is tasty and financially responsible. 

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