When cinemas were first invented back in the early 20th century, the novelty of going with a group of people to experience cutting-edge technology allowing for video entertainment was a hot commodity.

Fast forward 100 years, and we just aren’t experiencing cinemas in the same way any more. With the rise of streaming services and online movie purchases, many people are seeing fewer reasons to want the big-screen experience for new and upcoming films. But can the cinema industry still survive?

After the world locked down in 2020 due to the pandemic, UK cinemas understandably saw an over 75 per cent decrease in revenue - and they are finding it difficult to reach peak levels again.

Nowadays, cinemas are in the news for having rowdy groups of teenagers dress up in fancy suits to ironically watch the Minions movie with the “#GentleMinions” trend, rather than being praised for their amazing shows.

On the whole, it seems that a major factor for the growth and popularity of movies now is their online trends and videos made about them. This is a major problem because if young people are finding out about movies from their TikTok feeds, it's difficult to picture them going to watch the movie at their local cinema rather than wait for a few weeks for it to come out on Netflix, to watch from the comfort of their own home. As well as this, companies like Netflix and Prime have turned to making “original” movies, which are not ever released in cinemas.

With a new generation of people able to access thousands of hours of content with the tap of a button, the future of cinemas is not looking bright.

Revenue seems to be bouncing back after Covid - but the streaming service industry is exploding. It's extremely hard to tell the direction that cinemas will be going in future years, but I believe that they will have to innovate significantly to stay competitive with the huge streaming services.

  • This article was written by Sophie Gilbert, from Wildern School, as part of Newsquest's Young Reporter scheme.