As home entertainment becomes increasingly more immersive, with large screen flat panel displays, or even projection systems, the movie-going audience is declining. We routinely make trade-offs such as “Is this a DVD movie, or is it truly worth going to the cinema for?”
In recent memory, films that obviously made the cut were March Of The Penguins, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Water, and Harry Potter. In contrast, Walk The Line, a fine, fine film, was just fine on DVD.
So, what then is the future of cinema at theaters?
IMAX, the extra-immersive experiential theater, is definitely worth going to the movies for. We saw a splendid film set in Egypt, chronicling a white-water rafting trip down the Nile. It looks like some studios, as well as Private Equity fund Elevation Partners, also view IMAX in a similar light.