Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has made a shocking prediction. In his latest interview, he stated that movie theatres will become extinct soon. He referred to the US and Canada markets.
As per the CEO of the streaming giant, public attendance at concerts and sporting events has achieved pre-Covid levels. On the other hand, cinema halls have been struggling since 2020 to achieve their pre-Covid levels.
Ted Sarandos believes that theatres are never coming back. As per him, box office revenues have shrunk by about 40-50%, although the actual decline is way less. Global streaming subscriptions rose from 1.1 billion in 2020 to 1.3 billion in 2021, reflecting a sustained shift in consumption habits. The growth has only continued since then.
In a way, the outlook is bad for Bollywood as well. Even superstar movies have incurred major losses in recent years. Many theatres would have been shut down in the Hindi belt but for films like Jawan, Pathaan, KGF 2, the Pushpa movies, and RRR.
As per some estimates, the scenario is not that bad for Hollywood. Hollywood’s box office is rebounding but remains below 2019 levels, with 2024 at $8.75 billion domestically versus $11.4 billion pre-COVID. OTT platforms have likely shrunk cinema hall revenues by an estimated 20-30%.
