The strangest thing is: Is the future of cinema not new films? | Film industry

IIt’s been a profitable holiday stretch at the North American box office over the past couple of weeks, with titles like Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Housemaid, Marty Supreme, Anaconda, and Zootopia 2 bringing a welcome variety of blockbuster hits after crushing declines. But during that period, the highest single-day gross posted by any release wasn’t actually a grosser — or a movie. This was the series finale of the Netflix TV show Stranger Things.

Netflix has struck a deal to show the feature-length episode in theaters simultaneously with its web debut, and estimates put the 24-hour viewing figures, starting at 8pm on New Year’s Eve and continuing through New Year’s Day, at around $25 million. That’s bigger than any of Avatar: Fire and Ash’s days after its opening weekend. In fact, if Stranger Things’ release grosses more than $30 million, as some estimate, that would make it the second-biggest 24 hours for any December release, bested only by Avatar 3’s opening day.

In fact, those numbers are a bit suspect — not just because Netflix doesn’t release box office totals for its episodic theatrical releases, but because contractual issues dictate that tickets to the event were technically free. At most movie theaters showing the Stranger Things finale, attendees were already purchasing $20 concession vouchers to reserve their seats. But that just underscores how profitable this experience is for theaters: Instead of splitting the pot with the distributor like usual, that money is supposed to go entirely to the exhibitors.

Not every funky version offers such a great deal. But many distributors and theaters alike are getting more creative about how to support a business that has become increasingly dominated by big event films, many of which are no longer as reliably huge as they once were. Last fall, Broadway hot tickets like Hamilton (filmed with its original cast) and Merrily We Roll Along were available in movie theaters across the country. Last year, Taylor Swift provided a cash infusion for her 2023 blockbuster follow-up when the launch party for her new album The Life of a Showgirl grossed $50 million worldwide despite being cobbled together from a new music video, a series of no-frills lyric videos, and little behind-the-scenes material. BTS released a whole series of remastered concert films in the fall, and Netflix has indulged in both their fanbase and the pop craze by arranging a series of theatrical engagements for their KPop phenomenon Demon Hunters. Like the release of Stranger Things, this included a rare deal with AMC, the largest movie theater chain in the United States, and an unofficial enemy of the streaming device. (Before 2025, only one Netflix feature had shown on AMCs: a one-week syndication with Glass Onion. AMC had largely rejected the company’s appeal for a shorter theatrical window.)

It’s not just pop music, strong opera and theatre, or sports programmes, either. Targeted rereleases have become a multiplex staple, sometimes through distributors like Fathom (which releases several classics nationally each month) and sometimes directly from studios like Universal, which put Back to the Future and Jaws on Imax screens during slow periods for new releases last year. In some cities, cinemas have developed their own spectacles; For example, some theaters in the Regal chain have been showing a different “old” movie (ranging from 1930s monster classics to mid-century musicals to Christopher Nolan blockbusters) every day since last September, something that’s been continuing through at least January.

It adds up to a strange circular phenomenon. Entertainment that in the late 20th and early 21st centuries was associated with home viewing — sports, TV shows, rewatching old favorites — has become potential big-screen fodder, even as countless feature films with major stars are sent to direct-to-direct release. Netflix and its ilk have helped train audiences to wait for streaming. Instead of resisting this training, audiences acquiesced and more or less refused to rush out to see as many films as they used to (let alone head to the theater just to see whatever was being shown). However, it is clear that there is still a collective gravitation towards gathering outside the living room.

Maybe some of this shift is just accounting. As much as some will still complain about movie theater prices or insist that their 75-inch flat screen is roughly equivalent to a 50-foot screen, good seats for a big-screen presentation are still more affordable (and easier to get) than the equivalent at a live music screening or sporting event, with a greater crowd rush (and a louder sound system) than what’s available in most homes.

However, it is likely that some of them are also a direct product of, and perhaps a clever adaptation of, those shortened theatrical windows. Depending on your age, you may remember a time when films were in theaters for weeks or months — and even shorter theatrical releases would be followed by a period of three to six to even 12 months before the film in question reached home video formats. In 2026, it’s not unusual for a film to be available to rent at home within two or three weeks of its opening weekend (which many viewers round off in their heads to “on Netflix soon,” even if the reality is still that theatrical films often take months to get to Netflix, if they’re licensed there at all). With a few big-ticket exceptions, the difference between paying to see a movie on opening weekend or once it hits premium VOD is negligible, a question less of necessity than of preference. If you prefer watching a movie on the big screen, you’ll likely save time. If you can go either way, well, that decision will be made for you quickly.

By the same token, if it’s not unusual for a film to make it to some form of home video so quickly, it may also erase any lingering sense of taboo on audiences paying the price to watch something that’s readily available elsewhere. Yes, you can watch the finale of Back to the Future or Stranger Things or catch the big game at home, sometimes for free (or what feels like free anyway; even the somewhat free options require at least a reliable internet connection). Even the original Hamilton movie released in September has already been streaming on Disney+ for years. But if everything were available everywhere — or, at any rate, if so much entertainment were available in a greater variety of ways — there would be no reason always to stick to the same method every period of time, just as there is no reason to stop eating food from a restaurant that you can learn to cook at home.

Advocates of home viewing may roll their eyes at the huge wonder with which some frequent moviegoers speak of the theatrical experience. However, if theaters can survive — which most people who aren’t Netflix shareholders would probably ultimately prefer — it may be due in large part to some abiding sense of respectability they hold. Going out and watching Stranger Things, a re-release of Jaws, or a big football game at the movie theater is an act of devotion that defies simple utilitarianism. A few viewers may have checked out KPop Demon Hunters shows without watching the movie on Netflix first; However, most of them were showing up to sing along to songs they already knew. A certain section of moviegoers will always appreciate the thrill of making that invisible, devotional choice, for films that may be great or terrible. But for others, the darlings and the unfixed may just be switching places.