Every sector has its eminences and, in the cinematographic field, Steven Spielberg is one of them. His career, full of box office successes and lavishly awarded, represents cinema in its most traditional sense, that of a seat, popcorn and an immersive experience, which is why their views on the future of the industry never go unnoticed. The latest statements on this subject have been made by during an interview for promoting his latest work, ‘The Fabelmans’, in which he is convinced that movie theaters will rise from their ashes. “I think (the public) will go to the movies again. I really believe it.” The film, semi-autobiographical, is a tribute to the big screen, to that cinema that has been plunged into a deep crisis for years. Although the filmmaker is hopeful, he knows that cinemas are in a particularly delicate moment, battered by the pressure of streaming platforms and by a viewer who seems less and less interested in getting off the couch for anything other than a blockbuster.
The pandemic broke much of the feud of the halls as the first major exhibitor from a movie. In parallel, he gave the Internet the opportunity to gain ground that studios are now fighting to recover. The gaze is now on the more adult viewers, those viewers whose return to the theaters was taken for granted and that it has proven to be the most reticent. It seems that the home theater has become a perfectly viable alternative for fans of quality and prestigious movies, those whom Spielberg has been entertaining for years and who now linger before the comfort of watching movies in their homes.
Is the cinema the best way to enjoy a good movie? Undoubtedly. Is seeing it that way perceived as something essential? Unfortunately not anymore. That’s why, so that the return of the spectator occurs, the sector needs to change a discourse that is still excessively focused on the value of the theaters. And, in reality, that is not where the main problem is. Cinemas have not seen their position and prestige diminished one iota as spaces for collective and unique experiences. What has changed is the attitude of that viewer who has lost the habit of going to the movies because the pandemic showed them that watching a movie at home was not so bad.
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The cinema is based both on its capacity for seduction and on the acquired habits. If attendance at the rooms is not part of daily life, Premieres are at the mercy of what the ‘marketing’ muscle is capable of achieving when it comes to giving them visibility and making them attractive. But if there is a habit, there is an element in favor: the conviction that the experience of watch the premiere on the big screen it will offer more value, it will be different and even transformative. If you don’t invest in educating and building habits, the rooms are destined to lose the battle in favor of the cheapest and most comfortable alternative. This is the culmination of the harsh reality: the commercial exclusivity window of movie theaters continues to shrink, many companies no longer have the economic slack to invest in the expensive advertising campaigns that a theatrical release requires and it seems that family economies are not up to experimenting. And this is only the beginning. Many platforms are betting on taking their premieres to theaters, looking for the pike in Flanders that will make them both an alternative for billboards and a refuge in homes.
Spielberg is perfectly aware that the environment in which he is about to release ‘The Fabelmans’ is complex, but he also knows that he is Steven Spielberg and that, from the outset, gives him a certain advantage. His commitment is to provide an essential element to achieve communion between the viewer and his film: a quality story. Because, as he himself warns, “it is time to make movies good enough again to get all the spectators to proclaim it to the four winds once the lights come on & rdquor ;.