Despite boom of streaming services, moviegoers still look for “immersion, spectacle, and shared experiences”

The pandemic put trends in how people are watching movies, that had been developing over the decade prior to the covid-19 outbreak, into “overdrive,” says a team of researchers from the management consulting firm Bain & Co. Cinemas have struggled to get moviegoers to come back into theaters, with attendance still less than two-thirds what it was pre-pandemic.

However, this isn’t because people don’t want a night out at the movies, but “they need a more compelling reason to go.” In a recently released report, Bain partners Chris Xanthakis, Nicole Magoon, and Daniel Hong provide a blueprint for the industry which is facing a challenge that “has become an existential threat.”

Cinema’s strength “immersion, spectacle, and shared experiences”

The movie industry is facing challenges on several fronts from streaming services to new technologies that are enabling “a deluge of ‘good enough’ content,” the Bain partners explain.

“Today, media isn’t just consumed; it’s lived, shared, shopped, and multitasked,” they note. “As digital content creation and distribution become increasingly cheap and democratized, the industry faces intense pressure from outside competition for consumers’ time.”

Furthermore, an additional challenge to getting people back into theater seats is the tighter windows from when movies are released in cinemas to them being available on streaming platforms, going from 90 days before the pandemic to just 30 days now. This is making it “easier than ever for consumers to hold out and watch new movies at home.”

But the report notes that “cinema remains a differentiated ‘third space’ whose greatest strength is its ability to deliver immersion, spectacle, and shared experiences.”

A blueprint for getting moviegoers back in cinemas

A 2025 Bain media consumption survey of 5,000 people found that nearly half of respondents said they wished they attended more in-person events. “Successful companies will invest in premiumization, personalization, and partnerships to draw people back to theaters,” write the authors of the report.

Movie houses can achieve this through “premium auditoriums, service, and personalization that can’t be replicated at home,” they explain. While going to the movies has gotten much more expensive, “seeing a movie in theaters is an event, a destination, an experience that is far more affordable than a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert,” the authors noted.

“Industry leaders recognize that, more than ever, cinema must reframe itself as a premium experience, not mere content,” the Bain consultants added.

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