I read a very illuminating piece in The Times last weekend about the plight of cinemas in a post-Covid era. As you'll have gathered, I'm a pretty regular visitor to the plush leather seats of the Ashton multiplex, but I also make an effort to call at smaller, more quirky cinemas from time to time when I can.
The piece I read focussed on the smaller window between big new releases hitting the big screen and their arrival on streaming services, and that gap is certainly getting more slender. Takings last year stood at £979 million at the box office, only marginally down on the year before, but for context they stood at a rather more impressive £1.1 billion in 2019, before cinemas were forced to close their doors during the pandemic. I still remember how sad I felt watching the Rose Glass horror Saint Maud, which was partly filmed in Scarborough, one of my favourite seaside resorts, knowing it was the last film I'd watch on the big screen for a good while.
Back in 2021, The Guardian reported that a data firm (Omdia) predicted box office takings wouldn't bounce back to 2019 levels for a good couple of years. Four years later, they still show no sign of doing so, it seems. The 'streaming window' is a big factor behind this, as films are transferred from cinemas to being made available to watch at home at a rapid rate. It was a tactic that of course proved necessary during lockdown, when cinemas were shut and audiences had more time available than ever to consume content.
However, over the last three years, the average number of days between the four biggest studios releasing films to the cinema and making them available to buy on demand at home has fallen by almost a third, from 76 days in 2022 to a mere 52 in 2024. Although UK admissions rose a smidge last year, they remained far short of 2019's numbers (123 million versus 176 million). Almost a third of independent cinemas could shut in the next three to five years without some form of help, the Independent Cinema Office has concluded. Studios are probably not too worried, as long as we're paying to watch their films at home.
I was rather startled on New Year's Eve to discover that Conclave cost more to watch at home than it would have cost for two tickets and two tubs of ice cream at a local cinema in West Yorkshire we sometimes visit. Holy smoke! I hope something can be done to help venues out, as our towns and cities would be much poorer without them, in my opinion. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what would motivate you to go to the cinema more. I find having a film review column is hugely helpful, plus it's the only time when I feel you truly switch off from the menace of smartphone notifications and interruptions that life in 2025 brings. Gosh, I sound like my parents (no offence if they are reading this!).
I know that snacks are expensive, but salted popcorn topped with M&Ms is a taste sensation. Cinema nachos are ultra processed guilt food, but in the best possible way. That excitement of seeing the trailers before the main feature still gets me every time. My first date with Sofia, my wife, was at a multiplex in January 2010, when I unfortunately booked a rather terrible romantic comedy rather than the Sherlock Holmes film she fancied. Luckily the date went well otherwise!
My point is, life is about shared experiences, and I'd be really sad if cinemas diminished in number due to us all staying in our bubbles to watch films in our onesies. I think that would be a real pity, and I hope that something can be done to reverse the trend. Having seen well over 40 films on the big screen so far this year, I can say hand on heart that there is not a lack of new releases. Over in my film column, I review a genre-twisting spectacle that you might want to catch on the big screen. If not, there's a new Final Destination soon for horror fans, and a new Mission Impossible adventure for Tom Cruise, not to mention Disney's big new Lilo & Stitch film that looks ace, to name just three. Here's hoping cinemas are around for generations to come, and the curtain doesn't close on them for the last time.
