The End of Movie Theaters?

Mike Masnick notes another data point in the great King Kong debate. George Lucas thinks that the era of the $200 million blockbuster is over.

Spending $100 million on production costs and another $100 million on P&A makes no sense, he said.

“For that same $200 million, I can make 50-60 two-hour movies. That’s 120 hours as opposed to two hours. In the future market, that’s where it’s going to land, because it’s going to be all pay-per-view and downloadable.

“You’ve got to really have a brand. You’ve got to have a site that has enough material on it to attract people.”

…Lucas said he believes Americans are abandoning the moviegoing habit for good.

“I don’t think anything’s going to be a habit anymore. I think people are going to be drawn to a certain medium in their leisure time and they’re going to do it because there is a desire to do it at that particular moment in time. Everything is going to be a matter of choice. I think that’s going to be a huge revolution in the industry.”

I’m very reluctant to argue with the man who created three of the top 10 grossing films of all time, but this doesn’t seem quite right. People have been predicting the decline of the movie theater for decades, first in response to the television, and then in response to the VCR. It hasn’t happened yet. The reason, I think, is not only that the big screen makes for a better experience, but also that people like to go out, and seeing a movie is a good excuse for doing that. It’s the same reason that people go to bars when they could buy alcohol and consume it at home for a lot less money. As long as there are thousands of movie theaters, it seems to be there will be demand for big-budget blockbusters to draw people into them.

SHARE: 4 comments