The Theater's Problems
The era of moviegoing as a mass audience ritual is slowly but inexorably drawing to a close, eroded by many of the same forces that have eviscerated the music industry, decimated network TV and, yes, are clobbering the newspaper business. Put simply, an explosion of new technology – the Internet, DVDs, video games, downloading, cellphones and iPods – now offers more compelling diversion than 90% of the movies in theaters, the exceptions being "Harry Potter"-style must-see events or the occasional youth-oriented comedy or thriller.
Anywhere you look, the news has been grim. Disney just reported a $313-million loss for films and DVDs in its fiscal fourth quarter. Sony has had a disastrous year, with only one $100-million hit ("Hitch") among a string of costly flops. DreamWorks not only has had theatrical duds but also saw its stock plummet when its "Shrek 2" DVD sales fell 5 million short of expectations. Even Warners, the industry's best-run studio, laid off 400 staffers earlier this month.
I suspect the author is a little premature with this eulogy, but no doubt he's partly right: people just don't go out as much these days. It makes me a little sad, in a nostalgiac way. But Hollywood hasn't been a good influence on our culture (see first post of today) and its stars are obnoxious. If it is, indeed, crumbling, it's difficult to cry for it.