By ABBY GROFF
Staff Writer
Since the start of rapid increases in coronavirus cases in March 2020, we’ve seen shutdowns of many public places. Restaurants, malls, and parks have all been closed due to health and safety guidelines being put into place throughout the country. However, movie theaters may have the biggest long-lasting effect. As more people are staying home and quarantining, more are signing up for streaming service subscriptions as well. The number of Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ subscribers has skyrocketed in the last few months. Netflix saw a 19,000,000+ increase in watchers since 2019. But how does this relate back to the movie theater industry?
With less people going to the cinema for entertainment, the box offices are making less money. As a result of this, companies are choosing to release their films straight to streaming services available to watch from home. This year Disney brought their live action remake Mulan (2020) to Disney+. Other films that were released digitally include Miss Juneteenth, You Should Have Left, and Scoob! Surprisingly enough, digitally released movies have done pretty well during these times. If films are able to do this well without a theatrical release, straight-to-streaming-service movies may turn into the new norm as more Americans decide to watch their favorite films from the comfort of their homes.