Much of the conversation about how streaming affects ticket sales is about repeat viewing.
The box office is front-loaded during these pandemic times given opening weekend vs weekend 2 comparisons — especially for films arriving with day & date streaming like BLACK WIDOW ($80.4M vs $25.8M), CRUELLA ($21.5M vs $11M) & SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (pictured – $31.1M vs $9.6M).
With very little transparency from studios about streaming viewership, we don’t really know how badly day & dating is hurting the box office, but we know it’s not helping. Those weekend 2 drops indicate repeat viewing’s being clobbered. The fan base is driven to theatres by studio marketing to be the first to see event films. But once they’ve seen them on the big screen with booming sound & other cheering fans, that once essential repeat visit’s losing out to STREAMING+ at home.
Exhibitors need to get creative in response to the problem. Perhaps it’s time to market a BOXOFFICE+ premium ticket option to let moviegoers return to the same cinema in weekend 2 to see the same event film again by purchasing a unique two-weekend discounted package.