Streaming is set to continue growing, but slower than invested companies may like. Meanwhile, cinema is bouncing back.
The poor commercial opening of The Flash and Elemental in US cinemas this week has launched a fresh wave of news stories focusing on why two big summer movies have yet again failed to perform. Consider the various problems that these projects have been tussling with, not to mention the ongoing issues faced by the studios releasing them and to some degree, this was always on the cards.
Perhaps that’s why amid all of the emerging think pieces (here’s one of ours), nobody is really worried the high profile failure of these films to launch is somehow spelling doom for the cinema industry as a whole, no matter how many luminaries of the industry (Hi Tom!) may have positioned The Flash as the saviour of cinemas.
Cinemas continue to move in an upward trajectory following the industry-shattering pandemic of a couple of years ago. That’s been borne out by the accounting giant, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) which has released its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook report (which was covered by the folks at Dark Horizons). The annual report offers forecasts for the next four years spanning the entertainment industry.
The report confirms that whilst growth has been slower than expected, higher ticket prices mean that the industry is on course to match pre-pandemic levels by 2025. Actual cinema admissions are expected to get to pre-pandemic levels by 2027, although not matching that spike of admissions we saw in 2019.
China is set to top the global box office for the next few years as the country leans hard and invests massively into its plan to use cinema as a means to develop itself globally as a strong cultural power.
On the streaming front, the market is set to keep expanding from $133bn to $175bn but growth will slow significantly as we enter the next stage of the streaming wars where some players may look to merge as market opportunities diminish. Streaming that uses advertising is set to be the biggest driver of growth in this market.
The big loser is set to be pay and cable TV as home continue to cut cables and migrate to streaming. Companies and studios that currently profit from this model will already be looking at grim forecasts for the future and thinking up other ways to bolster their revenue.
What do you think? Any surprises here or is this simply a confirmation of the direction that things seem to be moving in?
