Streaming Services Flick Theaters to the Curb

Marcus Leary, Staff Writer

Movies have been an escape from reality since their invention. But like all things, in 2020, they got shut down. However, Warnermedia’s new plan for HBO Max could make theaters permanently obsolete. 

Warnermedia is releasing all-new 2021 movies on HBO Max and in theaters at the same time at no extra cost to HBO Max subscribers.

Watching a movie at a movie theater makes a difference in the quality of the movie. “One of the noticeable differences between watching at home and watching at the theater is the sound,” said Movie Review Club Co-founder Phu Hong (12). “The sound is louder and you can hear it from all directions.” Open to all students and staff, the Movie Review Club watches and discusses two movies each month.

But movie theaters are slowly getting replaced by streaming services. “I do miss sitting in comfy chairs, watching movies on a giant screen, with full surround sound,” said Lacrosse and Field Hockey Coach James Cho. But, I love that movies are coming to streaming services. It’s definitely more convenient.”

According to Hal Wolf, former Vice President of Content at Time Warner Cable and the Full Service Network, consumers appreciate the availability of watching what they want when they want to watch it.The Full-Service Network (FSN) led the development, both technical and market research, of movies-on-demand into cable households,” Mr. Wolf said. “There was no doubt it would be a hit. It was just a question of cost per stream.”

Not everybody likes that new releases are coming straight to streaming. “It’ll probably impact the movie theater industry pretty badly,” said Annie Tran (12). “I hope movies releasing straight to streaming doesn’t shut down the whole industry. I would love to have my future kids go and experience a movie theater.”

However, video-on-demand services have given people a cheap way to understand pop culture. “I love that various streaming services are putting out movies,” said Peter Kratz (10). “I can stay up to date with the latest movies without having to go to the theatre.”