There’s a lot of unease when you talk to people about the future of the theatrical experience. With the ubiquity of streaming, a lot of film fans have grown accustomed to watching films at home. Studios themselves promote this by releasing films on streaming just a few weeks after a theatrical debut. But Denis Villeneuve is still optimistic the theatrical experience will survive because it fulfills a need in humanity.
READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025
Speaking to IndieWire, while doing the awards season rounds for “Dune: Part Two,” Denis Villeneuve was asked about the future of the theatrical experience. He’s definitely a filmmaker worth asking, as his aforementioned “Dune” films were both massive box office hits and critically acclaimed. And for Villeneuve, he believes the theatrical experience “will prevail.”
“I’m very optimistic,” explained Villeneuve. “I believe that the big screen experience and theater experience will prevail. I know it has been challenged in the past years with streaming and the pandemic, but I think that we’ll find a balance and equilibrium. Ithink that we need, in society, spaces where we can be all together, live emotions together. It can be a rock concert, it can be a play in a theater, or an opera or whatever. It’s very healthy for humans to be together to share emotions and ideas together.”
The tricky part when talking about this subject is not all films are struggling at the box office. Just this past holiday weekend, we saw “Moana 2” break records while “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” both have been doing really well at the box office. The unfortunate part about the current state of the theatrical experience is how it takes blockbusters to really survive in cinemas. Mid-budget films and indies are still really struggling to draw crowds. Seemingly gone are the days of a R-rated, mid-budget drama going on to turn a profit at cinemas. Those types of films are largely the ones who get sent to streaming.
All that to say, it’s nice to see Villeneuve optimistic about the future of cinemas. Hopefully, he’s right. But it would appear the answer is a bit more complicated. Some films will always do well at theaters, while others simply won’t get the chance. That’s really the state of the theatrical experience nowadays.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://theplaylist.net/denis-villeneuve-is-very-optimistic-about-the-future-of-the-theatrical-experience-20241203/&media=https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/30021530/TimotheeChalametDenisVilleneuveDunePt2BTS.jpg&description="Dune" filmmaker Denis Villeneuve talks about the importance of the theatrical experience.){kind=link}