Did you dream of seeing the Snyder cut in theaters? Really? All four hours and two minutes in a movie-theater seat with soda getting warm and popcorn getting cold?
Though the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League was meant for movie theaters, it ended up in the living rooms of those who subscribe to HBO Max. And home—where you can pause the regular or gray edition for bathroom breaks or just sanity reasons—is maybe the better place to watch it. The reason for the switch to streaming was, of course, COVID-19, but how many people would have made the same choice in post-pandemic times?
GamblersPick surveyed people about their movie-viewing habits now and how they anticipate they’ll change when movie theaters reopen. (See the full infographic below.) Though streaming services have been winning audiences away from theaters for years, and the pandemic has seemingly only pushed the timetable up, plenty of people are looking forward to watching movies in theaters again. Of those surveyed, 11% are extremely eager to get back into a theater, 24% reported being very eager, and another 24% said they are somewhat so. Some respondents have already been back in theaters, with 39% saying they had been to one in the past three months.
As comfortable and easy as it is to watch a movie at home, there are some things you just can’t get at home—like the overall experience, which 69% of those who answered the survey missed. And though you can have any snack you want at home, it’s hard to replicate that faux-butter-flavor popcorn and the tasty thrill of overpriced boxes of candy, which is why 43% of people said they missed them. Then there’s date night. Faced with the prospect of a year spent either in a house filled with people or a year nearly entirely alone, 39% missed movie date nights.
That’s not to say that anyone is giving up streaming. We can choose from more streaming services than ever, and subscription numbers have risen. Disney+ was a new subscription for 30% of those surveyed. Amazon Prime Video saw almost the same number of new subscribers, at 29%. Netflix was added by 17% of respondents, and HBO Max by 15%. Network offerings, such as CBS All Access and NBC’s Peacock, didn’t see the same success but did get new signups from 5% and 8% of those surveyed.
While it’s impossible to tell what will change about the world and ourselves when the pandemic is over, 68% of people felt comfortable saying that they would return to theaters.
