{"id":435625,"date":"2025-12-09T13:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T13:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/435625\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T13:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T13:08:10","slug":"how-can-movie-theaters-fill-seats-again-a-bain-report-shares-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/435625\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can Movie Theaters Fill Seats Again? A Bain Report Shares Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tCinema attendance and box office have remained below pre-COVID pandemic levels<\/a>, so what can studios and exhibitors do to put people back in recliners and other movie theater seats? Management consulting firm Bain<\/a> & Co., in a new\u00a0research report, shares some suggestions and insights.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe big-picture takeaway from Bain partners\u00a0Chris Xanthakis, Nicole Magoon<\/a>, and Daniel Hong: \u201cSuccessful companies will invest in\u00a0premiumization, personalization, and partnerships to draw people back to theaters.\u201d After all: \u201cAudiences haven\u2019t abandoned theaters; they need a more compelling reason to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTheir new report, which was completed before the Netflix deal for Warner Bros. Discovery, which has raised more concerns about the future of cinemagoing, starts off in an ominous way. \u201cFor two decades, movie theaters have consistently wrestled with how to get people into seats. Today, that challenge has become an existential threat,\u201d it highlights. \u201cWhile consumer spending on video streaming subscriptions surged from 2010 through 2024, North American box-office revenue in real terms fell during the same time frame. Ticket prices in real terms are close to flat since 2010, but the cost of a visit has risen as the increase in concessions revenue per patron has outpaced inflation. As a result, consumers now see cinema as expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe pandemic exacerbated these trends, putting them into \u201coverdrive,\u201d as the Bain experts emphasize. \u201cIn 2020 and 2021, release schedules collapsed, consumer habits changed, and digital platforms gained ground. Although a 2025 Bain media consumption survey of more than 5,000 US consumers found that about half of them wish they attended more in-person events, this hasn\u2019t translated into a recovery for theatrical exhibition, with domestic cinema attendance still just 64 percent of prepandemic levels, according to data as of November from The Numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMajor studios, meanwhile, have seen the number of their wide releases remain about a fifth below pre-pandemic levels, filling the resulting gap with films from smaller affiliated studios.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll this comes to a head in what Bain dubs the \u201cFlooded Era,\u201d where media is everywhere, with new technologies enabling \u201ca deluge of \u2018good enough\u2019 content.\u201d In this environment, \u201canyone can compete, but not everyone can compete profitably,\u201d the consultancy warns. <\/p>\n

\n\tSo, how does the cinema experience fit into this time? Its key benefits are \u201cimmersion, spectacle, and shared experiences,\u201d the Bain report highlights. \u201cBut this is at odds with people\u2019s evolving consumption of media, which is increasingly short-form, interactive, and digital.\u201d Its recommendations focus on premium experiences, community, personalization, and partnerships. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe premium offering is a key starting point. \u201cIndustry leaders recognize that, more than ever, cinema must reframe itself as a premium experience, not mere content,\u201d the Bain consultants write. \u201cSeeing a movie in theaters is an event, a destination, an experience that is far more affordable than a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert. Theaters can deliver on this promise via premium auditoriums, service, and personalization that can\u2019t be replicated at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPart of the experience is a sense of community, Bain argues. \u201cCinemas can harness community to draw people in,\u201d the company believes. \u201cOne path is to provide social spaces and host community events, taking a cue from independent cinemas, which sometimes offer film clubs, themed watch events, and director Q&As.\u201d This social component also translates into social media, such as Instagram and TikTok, memes, video essays, podcasts, reaction videos, and cosplay, according to the consultancy. \u201cOur 2025 media consumption survey found that 64 percent of U.S. location-based entertainment attendees share their experiences on social media,\u201d its report concludes. \u201cThis is earned media that cinemas and studios can lean into and actively support.\u201d Data partnerships can further enhance the hunt for opportunities.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut what content draws in the \u201cFlooded Era\u201d? Bain suggests players should \u201cremain fresh with new content and new formats\u201d in addition to big, established franchises. \u201cOwning popular IP remains key. In 2024, the top-grossing U.S. films were overwhelmingly franchise extensions of original IP,\u201d the Bain report emphasizes. \u201cBut great IP and large marketing budgets alone don\u2019t guarantee movie success, and they\u2019re insufficient\u201d in a world where many a theater seat remains empty. \u201cAudiences crave novelty. Note the perennial breakout successes of innovative original movies, live streams, and concert films. \u2026 In response, we expect more theaters will forge new kinds of partnerships to deliver creative content and innovative formats for customers.\u201d In this context, concert movies and live sports \u201chave shown that there are other ways to draw audiences to movie theaters,\u201d the consultancy highlights.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCinema executives recognize that they have no choice but to reimagine the movie theater experience,\u201d the Bain team concludes. The winning companies will invest in premium, personalized offerings that can\u2019t be replicated at home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cinema attendance and box office have remained below pre-COVID pandemic levels, so what can studios and exhibitors do…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":435626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9840,201771,183848,171,1801,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-435625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-amc-theatres","9":"tag-bain","10":"tag-cinemark","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-international","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115689770395002847","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}