Movies are one of the most important forms of entertainment in modern day. They have the ability to tell a story through visual storytelling, sound, and narrative, creating a captivating experience. Although movies’ importance and popularity themselves remain the same, the movie theater industry tells a different story.
Currently, in the United States, we are experiencing a strong decline in movie theater attendance and revenue. According to Variety.com, ticket sales in 2024 fell to $8.7 billion, a 23.5% drop from pre-pandemic levels. Also, according to Forbes.com, the May 2025 box office was $520 million, which was the worst start to a summer blockbuster season since 1998. These stats show concern, but don’t show the end of movie theaters coming anytime soon. They are struggling as they find ways to evolve. This is because of the rise of streaming services, which was caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic keeping people inside.
Before COVID-19, movie theaters were a routine form of entertainment. Now, almost five years later, many movie fans are still staying home due to the surge of online streaming services. Before the pandemic hit, the box office sales were at an all-time high, sitting at $11.3 billion. Thereafter, in 2020, they plummeted 81% to $4.4 billion during the pandemic (boxofficemojo.com). Since then, sales have slowly increased, but have struggled to get near the pre-pandemic number.
During this time in 2020, online video subscriptions soared 26% to 1.1 billion, as theaters shut down, giving viewers one source of watching content. Since then, the number of pre-pandemic streaming service subscribers has doubled, and will continue to grow.
It’s simple, why would you spend money on watching a movie on a big screen when you can just stay home and watch whatever you want from your comfy couch? Many moviegoers have adapted to this thought and come to the realization that movie theaters are becoming old news.
These stats make it seem like movie theaters are near the end, but no, that’s not the case. Movie theaters are dying as they are in the process of finding new ways to evolve. I believe once the movie theater industry evolves around the increase in streaming service subscribers, it will be back on its feet enough to stay alive for a long while.
