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The number of ticket sales has been flat to declining since the '90s: https://www.the-numbers.com/market/ and I've read that the heyday of movies was in the '40s and '50s.

The simple answer is likely the quality of TVs: 65" OLED TVs with good sound aren't that expensive any more. The quality delta of going to a theater versus watching something on TV used to be massive.

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The only thing a theater really offers anymore is sharing the experience of a movie with other people. Which is definitely a benefit, but is it a $100 night out worth of benefit? Not to me.

this I think is exactly the reason, I was going 3-4x times a week to the movies in the 90s, but once I had more pocket change and "spending" money, really started investing in quality home theater gear, and over the years it fulfills 90% of my movie watching needs. Reducing my "going to the movies" to twice a year, if at all.

there is also so much content available, that there is no real urgency to watch the movie at release. "Waiting" for it be available on bluray/streaming, is not even "waiting" at all.

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