At the Time100 Summit, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos boldly stated that his company is "saving Hollywood." Amidst a backdrop of film production moving away from Los Angeles, shrinking theatrical windows, and declining audience experiences, Sarandos positioned Netflix as the industry's savior. "No, we're saving Hollywood," he declared to the attendees, emphasizing Netflix's consumer-centric approach. "We deliver the program to you in a way you want to watch it," he added, underscoring the platform's flexibility and convenience.
Addressing the downturn in box office sales, Sarandos rhetorically asked, "What is the consumer trying to tell us? That they'd like to watch movies at home." While expressing his personal fondness for theatergoing, he described it as "an outmoded idea, for most people," suggesting that the traditional cinema experience is losing its appeal for the general public.
Given his role at Netflix, Sarandos's views align with the streaming giant's interests, which prioritize home viewing over traditional cinema outings. Hollywood's challenges are evident, with family films like "Inside Out 2" and video game adaptations like "A Minecraft Movie" attempting to bolster the industry, while even Marvel movies, once guaranteed blockbusters, now face uncertain success.
The question of whether cinema-going is becoming outdated is a topic of ongoing debate. Legendary actor Willem Dafoe lamented the shift to home viewing, noting its impact on audience engagement. "Which is tragic, because the kind of attention that people give at home isn’t the same," Dafoe said. He expressed concern that more challenging films struggle to find an attentive audience at home, missing the social and communal aspects of the cinema experience. "More difficult movies, more challenging movies can not do as well, when you don’t have an audience that’s really paying attention. That’s a big thing. I miss the social thing of where movies fit in the world. You go see a movie, you go out to dinner, you talk about it later, and that spreads out. People now go home, they say, ‘Hey, honey, let’s watch something stupid tonight,’ and they flip through and they watch five minutes of 10 movies, and they say, forget it, let’s go to bed. Where’s that discourse found?"
In 2022, acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh shared his perspective on the future of movie theaters in the streaming era. He acknowledged the enduring appeal of cinema but stressed the importance of engaging younger audiences to sustain the industry. "I think people still want to go out," Soderbergh said, highlighting the allure of the movie theater as a destination. He emphasized the need for thoughtful programming and audience engagement to keep theaters relevant. "There's still an appeal to seeing a movie in a movie theater. It's still a great destination. And it really depends, I think, on our ability to attract, to convince the older audiences to continue to come out [...] It has nothing to do with windowing [the term for the amount of time left between theater and home releases]."
