Another cinema chain going down the pan

robfosters said:
It’s a lot different imo. No such thing as HD or 4K HDR back then and audio was nowhere near as immersive as it is today
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Well, yes, the technology has obviously moved on, but very few people have a setup on the scale of a cinema with tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment.

I've got an above-average setup at home and it just doesn't hit you like a cinema experience does with films like Top Gun etc.

The vast majority of people don't use a good TV and certainly don't use a decent sound system, so the reason people don't go has very little to do with the fact that the home experience is more comparable these days, imo.
 
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Ayahuasca said:
Well, yes, the technology has obviously moved on, but very few people have a setup on the scale of a cinema with tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment.

I've got an above-average setup at home and it just doesn't hit you like a cinema experience does with films like Top Gun etc.

The vast majority of people don't use a good TV and certainly don't use a decent sound system, so the reason people don't go has very little to do with the fact that the home experience is more comparable these days, imo.
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I suppose it depends what you want in a film. If you are a big action packed blockbuster fan then cinema will always be a cut above, but if you are more of a cerebral movie fan then I argue you get a better experience at home.
 
Darujhistan said:
Cinemas are going the way of Blockbusters.
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Except they're clearly not are they? https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...-new-2023-global-revenue-forecast-1235399513/
The mood at this year’s show is expected to be upbeat overall. No one expects moviegoing to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024 or beyond when there are roughly the same number of releases as before, but there is steady progress.
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COVID has certainly made a correction to people's habits, but there's still a huge number of people spending well at cinemas.. Even to the amount that streamers like AppleTV+ and Amazon are pivoting to theatrical runs first rather than going straight-to-streaming. There will be only one reason for that; money.

Sure, on a tech forum there's bound to be a large majority that spend good money on a home cinema setup (surprise surprise) but back in the real world, a lot of people don't have the space, or money to do that. And they never will.
 
They're going out of fashion in many ways.
Having to deal with other people kicking your seat, throwing pop corn, rustling packets, talking and going on their phone during the film etc. Cost. I would pay more than my annual netflix sub to take my family for a single movie.* I have a big OLED at home with surround sound. I'm not saying it's the same as a cinema screen and speakers, but it's pretty good and the comfort of my own home with infinite flexibility and food/drink. It's another sad thing to lose, just because it used to be a cool experience and something to look forward to for kids as a treat.
*Turkey vpnflix
 
Bigpig said:
They normally pop up as soon as home premiere starts rolling out. Unless you are counting cams
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Another reason why theatrical runs can help make more money. Probably fair to say those viewers that are tech-savvy and inclined to stay at home, might also be ones more familiar with illegal sites/IPTV/whatever. So they'll also be more tempted to not pay for a PVOD release as they know within a couple of days a very good rip will be out for free. Whereas if a movie is still in a theatrical-only run worldwide, the best you'll get is a bad cam.
 
Dreadful shame but in truth I only ever visited the cinema for the big theatrical releases where the grandeur of landscapes and sound stage really improved the experience. Looking forward to Oppenheimer and Dune II though which says it all. Only two films worthy of the expense for an entire year.
 
Not surprising as Empire was a relatively small chain of leftover cinemas from when the big chains merged with no unlimited option - some of the sites will probably get snapped back up by Cineworld or Odeon (if allowed).
 
Have to agree that film adverts show too much detail in a film, usually the best "jokes" and all have the same backing track if an action film. Still go every week but that's because it's cheap for me. If it was £10+ a film I wouldn't bother.

It's sad to see places like this close down, perfect student jobs and good entertainment. Would smaller multiplexes survive better?
 
n111ck said:
Not surprising as Empire was a relatively small chain of leftover cinemas from when the big chains merged with no unlimited option - some of the sites will probably get snapped back up by Cineworld or Odeon (if allowed).
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Cineworld have no money to buy them out - and why would they, they've got too many screens that are probably losing them money that they need to get shot of.

Odeon will see the writing on the wall and steer clear.

As I said in the cineworld thread, I don't see cinemas vanishing because it's still something a reasonable number of people will go and do as an activity. The difference will be that big cities like London and Manchester will have 2-3 for the entire city, and big towns may get one, or even none.
 
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