Netflix Isn’t Killing The Cinema Industry – It’s Killing Itself (With Your Help)

Before you dive into my own thoughts on where we are in the cinema timeline right now I would like you to read the list below I have compiled on what I feel are the key turning points in cinema history (with years).

• 1895 – Birth of Cinema First public film screening by the Lumière brothers.
• 1905 – The First Dedicated Movie Theatres Nickelodeons open in the U.S., making cinema a mass pastime.
• 1915 – The Feature Film Era Begins The Birth of a Nation popularises the full-length feature format.
• 1927 – Silent Films → Talkies The Jazz Singer becomes the first feature-length film with synchronised dialogue.
• 1935 – Black & White → Widespread Colour Becky Sharp becomes the first full-colour (3-strip Technicolor) feature.
• 1948 – End of Studio Monopoly The Paramount Decree breaks studio control of cinemas.
• 1952 – Rise of Widescreen / Cinemascope This Is Cinerama debuts, trying to lure audiences back from TV.
• 1975 – The First Modern Blockbuster Jaws introduces the wide-release, summer blockbuster model.
• 1977 – Visual Effects Revolution Star Wars changes VFX, sound design, merchandising, and franchise filmmaking.
• 1995 – First Fully CGI Feature Film Toy Story launches computer-animated cinema.
• 1999 – Digital Filmmaking Begins Star Wars Episode I popularises digital projection/testing.
• 2007 – The Streaming Shift Begins Netflix launches streaming, slowly reshaping viewing habits.
• 2009 – IMAX, 3D & Modern Digital Filmmaking Peak Avatar pushes digital cameras, CGI realism, and 3D / Large Format adoption.
• 2020 – The Cinema Collapse / Streaming Takeover COVID-19 accelerates the decline of traditional theatrical attendance.

You can all argue which one or more on that list dominates but in my opinion my focus is on the last two – IMAX which I might refer to as LF (Large Format) and COVID-19 which I might refer to as C19 or The Pandemic.

The New Norm

The Pandemic changed the way you consumed visual entertainment and more specifically movies. You’re not dumb – you know this. Netflix, Amazon Prime and the then recently launched Disney+ gave us finger clicking access to past and new films in every room of our homes we could access the internet – from TVs, tablets to phones. A lot of movies were now available in Ultra HD (4K) with incredible surround sound on compatible devices. Other entertainment studios were forced to bring us their own streaming platforms to compete – such as HBO and Paramount. “Begun…the streaming wars have”.

I love movies. It’s one of the reasons I do what I do  and more importantly adore what I do as well. I research movies. I learn about movies. I engulf myself in movies. As a kid we were lucky enough to have a VHS player in the house very early and I would record films off TV as well as watch ‘pirate’ movies as they became available. When ‘corner shops’ started hiring movies I would spend my pocket money each weekend on Jackie Chan movies and anything that looked good. And back in that time you could hire anything at any age if you had money!

When The Pandemic closed cinemas I was gutted, but I was right in line to go back when some of them opened again. It was surreal. In 2021 I was sitting on my own with a mask on watching TENET by Christopher Nolan on a LF screen and absolutely loved it (not the mask bit). A huge screen. Ear shattering sound. A big reclining seat. Magic! At home, I’ve had home cinema since 1997. I currently have a huge TV, amazing KEF surround speakers and a really powerful PIONEER amp. I’ve no neighbours directly either side so I can go as hard as I want! I also have a huge collection of physical media from Blu-Ray to 4K. Did I mention I love movies?

I go to the cinema regularly at IMAX Odeon. But…here’s the thing. I’m one person. I’m not a mam, dad and one, two or a tribe of kids. I take my own popcorn and drink – I don’t have to spend £12 on snacks. For me, going to the cinema is not expensive (I appreciate money is relative of course). For others it has become a very costly outing. I pay for monthly passes so can go as much as I want but I do have to pay a little extra to see a LF screen and I accept that. At present, an IMAX ticket at Odeon on Monday 8th December in the middle row is £22.50 to see Wicked: For Good. That’s for one person to see the movie once.

I don’t smoke, rarely drink, don’t have a drug habit, I don’t gamble and I don’t waste my money on a season ticket to watch a ball go left to right.

I pay £18 a month for my Odeon pass and I pay £5 to upgrade to see a film in IMAX. In June this year I went to see F1: The Movie 3 times. So that month it cost me £33 for that movie. Without the pass it would have been £67.50 for one person. I have to drive / ride to the cinema, navigate traffic and park. You don’t have to do that at home do you. You don’t have to get ready, get kids sorted and shuttle everyone or yourself about if you just want to stay home and wait for it on streaming.

The cinema cost has become a major issue with people because so many of you already pay for Sky TV, Netflix and Disney+. So why would you want to pay more money to go the cinema when you’re already paying for streaming services at home? And people have realised that. They realise that if they wait a few months they can access it for free. Some movies appear within weeks on Amazon Prime to buy as VOD – Video On Demand. Yes you’ll pay upwards of £13.99 (usually £19.99 on day one) but you now ‘own it’ to watch as much as you want at home. You’ve saved a ton of money! So f*ck the cinema right? It costs too much. Especially when you’ve a tribe to pay for as well as other important stuff that makes you who you are.

But let’s be real, you didn’t suddenly decide to stop going to the cinema. It was forced on you in 2020 when you were locked at home with nothing to do so you started collecting streaming services. And like most things it became ‘the new norm’ remember? People bought bigger TVs with the holiday money they couldn’t spend on holidays. Watching movies at home became great again with clearer, larger and louder displays. You couldn’t go to the pub so you signed up for streaming platforms and bought game consoles. You invested your money into another eco system – one that kept you at home.

Top Gun: Maverick (and IMAX) – Crash or Burn?

Pre-production began in 2018 and it was filmed during 2019, Top Gun: Maverick was due for release in May 2020. As we know that didn’t happen due to The Pandemic and it eventually released 2 years later in 2022. I went to see it on day two with a friend at Empire Cinema Catterick. People clapped when it ended! That was a beautiful day in my life because after that film we went for a walk down the river in the sun.

For 2 years it was shelved, sitting in a digital vault waiting to be released. Paramount placed enormous pressure on Tom Cruise to release the film on streaming. He resisted. During its theatrical run it grossed £1.2 billion. As of today it is currently the 14th highest grossing film of all time. Top Gun: Maverick brought people back to the cinema. Steven Spielberg can be seen online telling Tom Cruise to his face “you saved cinema”. I myself have seen it 13 times at the cinema, once outdoors and 3 times in concert (in May 2025 I photographed The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at The Royal Albert Hall as they practiced for the evening showing I was at). I also bought my latest TV, a brand new 4K player and that 4K disc the day it came out later that year in 2022. Yes – it’s my favourite film.

But in my opinion Top Gun: Maverick also inadvertently helped to burn cinema (not crash it). IMAX and LF screens were now positioned to be the only way you can truly experience the film at its maximum. Every movie that has come out since which was regarded as a ‘big film’ will tell you to see it in a LF screen. All of the actors will talk about how you have to see it on a LF screen. All of the marketing is geared towards the LF experience. And as I have shown above – seeing a film in IMAX / LF is very expensive. This has become to expensive for those on a budget and especially families who now may feel that seeing it on a ‘normal’ screen is somehow not getting the full experience and therein lies the acceptance that “we’ll just wait until it comes on streaming”.

(And just to be a nerd – Top Gun: Maverick was not filmed with IMAX cameras. It was filmed with Sony Venice 6K cameras (with bespoke lens mounts) which allowed the image to be show in the IMAX aspect ratio. There is a difference and you should pay attention to any trailers or marketing you see for films that state “filmed for / made for IMAX”. ‘Filmed for’ is not ‘Filmed with’). F1: The Movie was filmed for IMAX not filmed with IMAX cameras.

Evolution Cannot Be Stopped

Cars took over from horses. Computers took over from paper mathematics. ChatGPT took over from thinking (for some). And streaming has taken over your lives. Things change. Idea’s alter. We evolve. Netflix is not killing the movie industry. If anything it’s gave it, the creators and artists the largest platform ever to display what they do best – entertain us.

Many of you younger readers don’t know the history of Netflix or how it started. Go watch a YouTube on it and you’ll see where it began.

It’s like the good looking girl / boy in class or your work right now – hated for no reason by many and loved and adored by others for being so damn attractive. Remember when you clapped for the NHS in 2020 then a couple of years later you complained at them because you couldn’t get an appointment as some of them were on strike for more pay and better conditions? You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.

The cinema experience is one of my favourite things to lose myself in. I recently went to see Jaws 50 and Back to the Future in IMAX because I had never seen them on the big screen. It was amazing. A huge screen. Ear shattering sound. A big reclining seat. As I said above…magic! I also like to go to the cinema a couple of times a year with one of my oldest friends who loves movies. We recently went to see The Running Man in a 4DX sceen. Awesome!

The movie industry is not helping itself by telling you all that the only way you can see a film is in IMAX when a lot of you don’t have IMAX money to spend on a movie. That’s on them. You can see it on the other screen.

And you’re not helping the industry either by not making the cinema a real place to lose yourself once a month with your own self, your partner, family or just with a friend. That’s on you. It’s called counting your pennies and leaving the house.

*No AI or LLM were used to write this.  This is my work from my touch-typing digits.   So if the grammar is off – well that’s on me.