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Milestones and Turning Points in Film History The Year 2024 |
 Timeline of Greatest Film History Milestones and Turning Points (by decade and year) Introduction | Pre-1900s | 1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
| Event and Significance | |
| A HarrisX poll reported that 34 percent of U.S. adults preferred to watch movies in theaters. Conversely, 2 out of 3 adults would rather wait for movies to be released on streaming services, and instead watch them at home. The poll showed that there was also very strong demand among content streamers - nearly half of consumers reported that they streamed movies weekly. The reasons provided for a preference in attending films in a theatre included the big-screen experience (59%), the quality of surround-sound systems (47%), fewer distractions than at home (39%), theatre's reclining seats (37%), theatre refreshments (32%), movie exclusivity in a theatre (30%), 3-D or IMAX technologies (30%), being with a live audience (26%), movie premieres or screenings (25%), and nostalgia (24%). The reasons for avoiding films in a movie theatre included the following: the cost of movie tickets (53%), the cost of theatre concessions-refreshments (42%), the comforts of home viewing (40%), "uninterested" (24%), sanitation and health reasons (23%), no restroom breaks (22%), audience distractions (19%), inconveniences of travel, traffic and parking (15%), selection of films (13%), inconvenient theatre locations (13%), limited availability or inconvenient showtime schedules (11%), and seat selection (8%). | |
| According to predictions by Deadline,
the domestic box-office was expected to drop in 2024 by $1-2 Billion
to a total of $8 Billion (compared to a total of about $9 Billion in
2023). Two major reasons accounted for the drop: (1) fewer films due
to the "broken rhythm" and "erratic pipeline of product," partially due
to the prolonged WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023 that left only
107 wide titles and bumped many 2024 movies to 2025, and (2)
waning moviegoer sentiment, according to the National Research Group’s
(NRG) recent study reporting that 69% of moviegoers wanted more original
movies, and were suffering from "superhero fatigue." In fact, some moviegoers
felt that some strides were actually being made in reducing the number
of franchise films, although many releases set to be released in 2024
were still sequels or reboots/reimaginings. The study reported that Americans
weren't attending movies as frequently as they did pre-pandemic, off by close
to a third from pre-pandemic levels, mostly due to changed habits, inflationary
pressures, and an explosion in streaming. So in spite of ticket price
increases, the total box-office revenue intake was decreasing. It concluded
that "the challenge the industry faces is getting quality, theatrical
product out there on a continuous basis to consistently engage the habit
of moviegoing." Another major issue was that movie-going ranked the lowest on providing "a lot of value" for consumers’ money spent, when compared to other activities such as amusement parks, sporting events, and restaurants. Most customers said that they supported the move to reduce movie ticket prices and provide cheaper concession prices. Movie-going has mostly been challenged by the preference to stream movies at home vs. attending a movie theatre, bolstered by the comforts of in-home viewing, the increase in internet speeds, and the shortened window between theatrical and streaming releases. Many, however, still felt that there was nothing more important than the value of a theatrical release - that also boded well for a film's streaming success at a later date. |
