I love movies. Not just as an art form, but as an experience. I am, of course, referring to the act of going to the theater.

Movie theaters offer something really special. A sense of grandeur. For approximately two hours, you, your friends and a handful of strangers get to live a different story and discover a different world. 

Theaters are a celebration of the arts and all the people who help create our favorite stories.

With that being said, the future of movie theaters is looking somewhat bleak.

Traditionally, the theatrical window for a new movie release has been several weeks to several months, usually 40 to 50 days. After a movie’s theatrical run, there’s usually a three or so month wait for its home release.

If you are a regular theater goer, you’ve probably noticed that these time periods have changed. As of recently, the theatrical window for new releases have been shrinking. 

Let’s use “Transformers One” as an example. Paramount’s newest installment in the ever-so-popular series started its theatrical run in the United States on Sept 20. The film’s digital streaming release is planned for Oct. 19, not even a month after release. 

“Transformers One” isn’t the only movie this has happened to. “Late Night with the Devil,” “Longlegs,” “Joker 2” and “The Wild Robot” all received shortened theatrical runs. They also received digital releases immediately after, killing any chance they might have at major success.

While I’ve only listed a few, this shortened run has affected almost every release in the last year. One of the worst parts about all this is that we don’t know why this is happening. Film studios are staying silent on the matter.

I’ve taken it upon myself to look into this matter and see if I could pinpoint a specific reason behind the shortened release window.

First thing first, let’s look at what films are following this trend, or rather, what films aren’t. 

“Deadpool and Wolverine,” “Inside Out 2” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” are seemingly the only movies that haven’t been affected by the shortened release schedule, staying in theaters for months. 

As you probably noticed, they all share something in common. They are all sequels. To be clear, they’re sequels to nostalgic movies.

It seems like new and original movies get a shorter release window. Meanwhile, these large franchises get the traditional releases. 

These major studios are killing off new franchises before they even have the chance to start. They’re focusing more on already established series, series that they know will make them money. This is, in essence, anti-art. They’re focusing on the past while ignoring the future.

What I think makes this even worse is that the new franchises are often dumped on streaming platforms immediately after their theatrical run. It’s one thing to release a movie on online store fronts, it’s a whole other thing to put it on streaming.

Apple TV, Google Play and Amazon Prime require you to purchase the movie, as if it was a Blue-Ray. The movie is still making a profit, even after it’s removed from theaters.

Meanwhile, a movie doesn’t really gain anything from being put on a streaming service. Sure, it’s getting more people to watch it. That, however, doesn’t net the filmmakers any revenue.

This leads us to asking the question, why are studios doing this? We sadly don’t really have a solid answer, just speculation. 

The most popular belief is that the studios lack faith in their products. They believe that their new IPs aren’t going to make any profit, causing them to want to pull them from the theaters early. From a business perspective, I honestly can’t see why they would do this.

Why spend millions of dollars on a movie just to give it a three-week run? Does the studio expect to make all of its money back in under a month? Unless you’re Marvel or Star Wars, you can’t really expect that level of success.

There’s also the idea that it’s a scheme to drive people to the studio’s streaming service. General audiences are being given two choices. Drive up to the theater and pay for a ticket, or wait three weeks and watch it for *free.* You can probably assume which one is more popular.

Now, what does this mean for theaters? 

The most obvious impact is loss in revenue, which can potentially cause some theaters to close down. There’s also the possibility that in the future more movies are going to receive a straight to streaming release, cutting theaters out of the equation entirely.

The most likely scenario, however, is the idea that theaters are going to move away from movies and become a general entertainment center. This is something that we can already see taking shape. As of September, theater chains from across the nation have joined forces to invest over two billion dollars into becoming “multiplexes.”

As a movie fan, it truly hurts to see the current state of things. I believe that every movie deserves a chance at making it big. Right now, theaters need our support more than ever. If there’s a movie that you’re even a slight bit interested in, please see it in theaters. Don’t let movie-going become a dying art.