The box office has been seeing big changes despite being able to post up huge numbers for quite some time – cinemas aren’t able to turn a profit simply from the sale of tickets and instead rely on the sale of concessions, and with digital media on the rise through platforms like Netflix, it has long been expected that there would be a major shift at some point, and it seems 2021 could be that year for big change.
It was announced late in 2020 that one Hollywood studio would be making the jump as Warner Bros announced that its full roster of releases set for 2021 would see a major box office release in theatres alongside a release to streaming platform HBO Max too, signalling the first big studio to do so – and with big names set to release throughout the year with the likes of Matrix and Mortal Kombat, there will certainly be a big draw as uncertainty around the future of cinema still looms. With other streaming platforms such as Netflix also committed to making big moves throughout the year as it is set to release 71 titles, at least one per week, throughout the year – there’s seemingly no doubt about how quickly streaming could replace cinema.
Success will be key, of course, as if Warner Bros manage to pull off the shift successfully many others will follow – but also raises the question of whether or not the successes found in some that had released online this year had been due to the pandemic alone, or whether or not it is a signal of change to come – a question that may not be answered throughout 2021 either, and may rely on an extended period of time for the answer to become more clear.
This won’t be the first big shift for entertainment to a primarily online base during this period of time either – other markets particularly within some forms of gaming have been seeing a steady shift, but as land based betting locations continue to close and a shift to digital sites becomes more common such as operators found on https://esportsbetting.site/, it seems the future for many forms of entertainment are starting to be firmly rooted in the online space instead.
There’s also another factor to consider with the change, and it may be a negative for the entertainment industry, and may lead many back to cinema too – with so many different streaming platforms available, costs are starting to pile up to be subscribed to each, and if each big studio choose to be represented on a different platform, some may feel they need to pick and choose which to subscribe to – and may even steer some away from relying solely on digital use.
