Staff Editorial | The Chronicle
The big screen still has a future
Across the country, movie theaters are closing at a rapid rate. Major theater chains have filed for bankruptcy, smaller independent cinemas are struggling to stay open, and overall box office revenue has dropped to its lowest point since the 1990s. As streaming services continue to dominate the entertainment industry, many people have begun asking the same question: are movie theaters dying?
For some, the answer seems obvious. Watching a movie at home is cheaper and convenient. Instead of paying for tickets and overpriced snacks, viewers can open their laptop and watch a new release right from their couch. From a purely economic perspective, theaters are fighting a losing battle.
This change in entertainment preferences has sparked broader conversations about whether certain forms of art are worth preserving as their audiences begin to decline.
Recently, acclaimed actor Timothée Chalamet, known for his roles in Beautiful Boy (2018) and Little Women (2019), has become the center of backlash online. After commenting that he did not want to spend the rest of his career working in spaces like ballet or opera “where it’s like, hey, keep this thing alive even though no one cares about this.” The media quickly accused him of dismissing traditional art forms, arguing that the classics should be protected even when they are not “hot” or trending.
The question of preserving art that nobody seems to care about applies just as much to movie theaters as it does to ballet or opera. Entertainment has always evolved alongside technology and cultural shifts. Radio listeners declined when television became widespread. Physical movie rentals faded when streaming became available. In a way, theaters are simply the next things being replaced for the sake of convenience.
However, the “death” of theaters starts a problem.
Unlike other forms of media that transitioned smoothly to digital spaces, the theater experience cannot be replicated online. Watching a movie alone at home is fundamentally different from sitting in a packed theater where 30 to 50 people react together in real time.
This is where Timothée Chalamet’s comment becomes relevant. While he questioned preserving art forms that have lost their audiences, movie theaters show that some experiences remain valuable precisely because of the community they foster.
Theaters will need to adapt, but dismissing them as outdated ignores the cultural role they still play. Like ballet or opera, some traditions deserve preservation because they bring people together in a way modern technology cannot.
Declaring the death of theaters is premature.
Streaming has changed how we watch, but it has not replaced the desire for shared cultural moments. The real question is not just whether theaters can survive, but whether audiences will continue showing up for them.
