Leonardo DiCaprio Wonders if ‘People Still Have the Appetite’ for Movie Theaters: Will They Become ‘Like Jazz Bars?’

Appetite for movie theaters? Sure.

Appetite for overpriced tickets, garbage movies, snacks at 1200% market prices and 30 minutes of ads? No thanks.

Hollywood churns out mostly dogshit quality movies, reboots, and sequels, of which a single ticket is around $20.

A family of 4 could easily spend over $100 just to see one mediocre movie.

Either Hollywood movie studios works with theaters to change that reality, or theaters die, and studios get acquired by streamers without any fear of antitrust to hold them back.

The only change I can see them making is increasing their ticket and concession prices.

Leo should love Blu-rays.
You can actually own them, and they're 19 years old.

Nothing about the movie theater experience draws me in anymore. The exception being Alamo Drafthouse. Last time I went to a Regal theater they had legitimately 15 to 20 minutes of straight up fucking commercials before the showing, before the trailers. I'm already paying out the ass for the ticket and food and you're still showing me commercials? Nah. That alone is enough to turn me off to it. Alamo Drafthouse on the other hand may be a little more pricey, but it's god great food and drinks and no fucking ads. They also have a high respect for no talkers in the theater and adults only on most showings or require an adult with them. End rant.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Christopher Nolan (another theater advocate) should come to a rural town and watch a third-run movie on a screen that feels barely bigger than your living room TV. Sure, it's like 10 times bigger, but between that, the Coke stuck to the ground, the popcorn stuck to the Coke, and the sticky stuff on your seat you hope is Coke... I think they'd agree that most Americans are just fine watching movies at home. They go to these exclusive, high class theaters with the best of everything and they think we can all get an experience like that. We can't.

I don't care about artsy-fartsy movies or Marvel/superhero movies (or Avatar). I mean both are okay, I don't hate them or anything, but I'm not generally going out of my way to see them. (I did see last year's Superman on IMAX. Even though I don't like Superman, I knew that would be a unique experience, and I was right.) I like indie movies that fit a certain niche, and I like Japanese movies (especially anime movies, like stuff from Shinkai and Hosoda). I try to support these movies, but usually we get like, the worst screen. It's fine, we used to have to drive for hours to get the worst screen. Now we can get the worst screen just up the road. I support the films marketed to me and my niche. I'm not gonna spring for every DiCaprio or Nolan movie, they usually make a billion dollars anyway. I have no sympathy for the occasional one that doesn't.

Not even 3 weekends in. It looks like, now follow me here, it looks like people are willing to pay for spectacle they can't duplicate at home.

(Source: boxofficemojo.com)

Compared to this entire 13 week run:

Nothing against the latter, but I saw the trailers and was like "Yeah, I can watch that at home."

Quality of Hollywood films is the main reason people avoid theatres. No one is paying those prices to watch 11% rotten tomatoes films.

There are films I get angry with even after torrenting.

Yeah, if the cost of seeing a movie for my family of 4 is $80, if instead of going to the movies I take that and save for a TV, staying at home 4-5 times gets me a 75 inch 4K TV.

If I'm going to watch some unimaginative retread of an established IP, I'd rather do it on my couch, drinking a beer, and eating my own popcorn.

I’d pay thrice the price if seating was good, volume was 75% of current levels, talking was policed, Mary Jane was finger banged in a car instead of the row behind me, popcorn weren’t thrown around, phones were off, commercials didn’t last 25 minutes before the main showing started, I could press pause and go to the bathroom or for a snack.

Theatres are meant to be places to watch movies, and movies are an art form. The garbage Hollywood is putting out these days is designed-by-committee bullshit. Not art. So yeah, theatres will probably die because they’re not making art anymore.

I might be in the minority but I actually really, really enjoy the movie theater experience. I just can't afford it more than every so often.

I saw a movie 2 days ago, it cost 34 dollars for 2 tickets and was preceeded by over 25 minutes straight of ads before any trailers. Leo is completely out of touch, and I don't think anybody asked him for his fucking opinion on this in the first place.

Let's see...fight traffic, find parking, crazy price, uncomfortable seating, can't control the heating or cooling, can't lower the volume or turn it up, can't stand up and sing along, can't text or take a call, can't pause for bathroom break, can't rewind cuz you missed that one part, it's too big or too far became of seating, other people are doing X thing, a crazy person may end your life after or during a shitty movie you were invited to, ticket master and ticket slave relationship......yeah no appetite.

I used to love it. But there are more important things to spend the $50 bill on.

Make better films

For me to go see a movie in a theatre it needs to be an experience that is enhanced by the theatre.

Action/adventure movies like the Avengers were much better in theatre than on my tv at home because the scale of the image and sound add to the epicosity of the film.

For a comedy or a romance film a theatre only adds to the cost of viewing. Its alright for a date night but theres not really a point otherwise.

I love theaters, but I haven't been in a long time because it's a big investment of time.

I like IMAX, I like that theaters now have better food rather than just popcorn.

I don't like that there's half an hour of advertisements before the film, or that basic politeness etiquette seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird and the kids will be on their phones and talking and what not

I'd go to the cinema far more often if there were films to watch.

Haven't been to the theater since '09.

It'd be hard to get me back. First of all, you'd have to make a movie I want to see. Maybe screen some retros too since good movies can't be made anymore apparently. (I'm sure they could they just don't because they just want Marvel.)

Even then, you'd have to make the theater itself more attractive than piracy. For starters, cheaper. I'm not above paying for the experience of going but not that goddamn much. Maybe add a pinball machine or two like the good ol' days, or even Time Crisis. Hell a little lounge area with that, maybe a bar and some bar food at a reasonable price, I'll go see two and chill in the lounge in between, fuck it.

But the biggest thing is that would have to be reasonably priced and that's never going to happen while the industry continues to huff its own farts into its grave.

I have plenty of apetite for movie theaters, I don't have apetite for taking the time to going to the movie theater to watch a mediocre movie....

the only time i go to the theaters now is when i'm worried about the internet spoiling plot for me.

I like movie theaters, but most of the movies coming out aren't very interesting. I don't like superhero movies or COD/John Wick-y movies where the plot consists of people getting punched in the face and going on car chases for 15 minutes.

I miss movies like Interstellar. Weapons was the last movie I saw and really liked in theaters.

Everyone talking about ads before the showing - is it not standard practice to arrive late?

Here it's usually "ah, it's 20 mins past the starting time so we're perfectly on time!".

I live near an IMAX theater and started going recently - gotta say, its a lot more compelling when you're watching a movie in a theater bigger than my entire apartment building

Going to the movies has become unbearable. Even if Hollywood didn't produce nothing but mindless trash and the whole evening didn't cost an arm and a leg, there's always at least one group of assholes in the theater who don't know that you're supposed to keep your mouth shut at the movies. I used to go regularly and often, but now I only go on rare occasions.

Lately, when I actually want to go see a movie, it's out of the theaters before I get to go. Wife works every other weekend, makes it difficult when you only have two days every other week to do stuff together.

Not a lot of jazz bars here in the heartland, but the ones we have are always packed.

I have not noticed a drop in attendance here in Southern California

Leonardo DiCaprio is a Jazz bar.

Surprisingly he didn't compare them to women over the age of 25.

I go to the theater every weekend and have done so ever since they reopened after Covid. Even when I'm out of town visiting people I still make time for a theater visit. I'm in the extreme minority though.

You couldn't pay me to go to a movie at a theatre.

Going to the theater is not how I consume movies anymore. Sure I went twice this year, both were as a novelty. I would have enjoyed them just as much seeing them st home.

I don't have the "appetite" for movie theaters. I immediately refuse whenever my friends ask me to go. I'd rather spend the evening at their houses playing board games.

Not when its costs an arm and a leg and the "films" are mostly re run dogshit. Original story? Pfft, go fuck yourself. Affordable accommodations? See question 1

It's true, I didn't want to pay over $14 for one person to go to the theater. If the prices were reasonable I'd be there.

Mmmm, pay a significant part of my income to go to some shitty badly maintained theatre to watch some slop that even the director or actors couldn't be bothered to make well while the rest nog the world is burning

Sounds enticing!

Eventually these types just completely lose any idea how things work for the rest of us. Sixty bucks for two and thirty minutes plus for ads and trailers to watch a movie. They keep taking more time and money from us while spoiled rich little punks like dicaprio think they understand why things are going the way the are.

Does anyone give a shit what this creep has to say?