By Kaleb Fobair
Reporter
With ever growing technology, movies are shifting over to streaming services. Watching a film in the theaters will always be a part of modern culture but viewing a film in a theatre doesn’t have an impact on how good it does.
Thanks to streaming services, it’s helping movies last. James Gunn, Director of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad said, “Movies last because they’re seen on television. Jaws isn’t still a classic because people are watching it in theaters. I’ve never seen Jaws in a movie theater. It’s one of my favorite movies.”
Students agree that, “Streaming services for sure, you get to stay home.” said general studies major Josh Barnhouse when asked if he preferred streaming or theaters. In addition, the public are used to staying home and watching new films in the comfort of their own homes due to COVID-19.
People may ask, what’s the point in going to the theatre anymore? Movie theaters are slowly starting to open back up, and big films releasing such as Black Widow and Dune are bringing people back into them.
With theaters making a comeback, you would think the box office would be beating the streaming platforms. Since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020, theaters and many other businesses had shut down. The entertainment industry had to halt everything, forcing film studios to delay their releases for months or even years.
This has caused some studios to release films on their own streaming services or make a deal with other streaming platforms. Following HBO Max, new movies were being released on streaming services such as Disney+, Peacock and iTunes. The price to watch a new film varies between the services.
“Not only is streaming growing in popularity while theaters are shrinking, but streaming is more profitable, especially for studios with their own streaming platform.” Stephen M. Colbert says in his article “Why James Gunn Is Right About Theaters vs Streaming (&TV)”
If someone has a Disney+ subscription, they can purchase Premier Access that allows them to watch a new movie as many times as they want for $30. Viewers must buy the $15 dollar streaming plan on HBO Max to see every new film released on their platform. Warner Bros has a deal where their new movies are released in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time, except the film is only on the platform for 30 days.
Just because movies are slowly making their way onto streaming, it doesn’t mean movie theaters are going away. Many people still love the ‘movie going’ experience, and the legacy of films won’t be affected whether it’s released on a streaming platform or not. Just like how TV and DVDs are keeping old movies alive, streaming services are doing the same with having their films on their platforms for everyone to watch.
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