Could The Box Office Be At Risk?

The spread of the coronavirus has had a huge impact on businesses around the world and has changed many in what may be a permanent way – there are others that have also changed independently from the global pandemic with mobile gaming being a prime example, namely in online gambling as initiatives such as Gamstop have been introduced in a bid to slow the rapid growth found within the market, whilst many of these changes have become mandatory there are services such as those found on Max Casinos that are available without the Gamstop restrictions – but there are also many businesses that are very much at risk because of the coronavirus, and one of the most beloved can be seen within the box office.

The Box Office Be At Risk

There had been a decline in attendance as a whole in recent years – largely due to increasing ticket costs, but many cinemas and theatres don’t survive on the sale of tickets, they instead rely on the high price on concession sales – with the spread of the coronavirus and lockdown measures in place, this is ofcourse an area that had been hit hard and something that may take some time for recovery as social distancing measures remain in place and many are less likely to attend for a box office release due to being in close proximity in a closed room with others – this may be the first stage in box office being at risk, but other indicators are also becoming clear too.

The rise of digital media is another – an example can be found in Universal Studios release of the title ‘Trolls’ as during the lockdown, the newest release was able to generate more revenue through on-demand streaming sales in just three weeks than a prior release had been able to do with a full box office run over three months. There is the possibility that this would be attributed to lockdown and an increasing audience for streaming, or just to the title itself appealing to a certain audience, but it could also be a sign of times to come – whilst there will always be the audience that are loyal to the cinema and will attend for any big release, but just as many that would be as likely to order the movie at home for viewing.

Could The Box Office Be At Risk
Could The Box Office Be At Risk

(Image from deadline.com)

It’ll take a little time to realise the full impact of the coronavirus on the box office, as mentioned the social distancing measures may cause a temporary change that doesn’t indicate a downward trend necessarily, similarly lower attendance may not be easy to measure for a number of months yet – but if time passes and no signs of recovery are shown with streamed and on-demand views remaining high, it may begin to spell the end for box office as we know it and cause a shift in the industry to support the growing change in demand and the change in how viewership has grown – unless cinema can offer some enticement for fans to attend despite current measures, early signs are not looking too great.