Movies Under COVID-19: In-Person vs. Online

The movie watching experience has changed with the pandemic forcing more viewers to consume media at home rather than in theaters.


Daniel Roman

Lin-Manuel Miranda raises his pistol as Alexander Hamilton in the play Hamilton that was released on Disney+ on July 3, 2020.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman battles Kristen Wiig as Chetah Woman in DC’s Wonder Woman 1984. (Daniel Roman)

The movie watching experience has drastically shifted over the years, and during a global pandemic, that does not change. Over the last few years, streaming platforms have risen in popularity, and more recently, streaming platforms started streaming their new releases on the same day that they release to theaters for an extra fee. These new releases  include the play Hamilton, which was made before Disney+ came out but was added on shortly after the release of Disney+, and the DC Comics movie Wonder Woman 1984, which was released on HBO Max.

The movie industry has had to make big changes since the Coronavirus hit, and some big adaptations needed to be made. For example, Disney+ has released Hamilton onto its platform on July 3, 2020, as they took footage from multiple performances of the play and edited it into one complete film. Wonder Woman 1984 was released on HBO Max on Dec. 25, 2020. 

Hamilton, which was first performed on Jan. 20, 2015, made its Broadway debut in August of that year. It has since gathered national attention, as it has been performed in many cities across the United States, including in Orange County in 2018. The average ticket cost is around $500, which could be a lot for a play that is now available to experience at home.

Senior Sofia Chigrina, who has seen Hamilton both in person and at home, talks about the different experiences she’s had when watching Hamilton.

“My experience was great [watching online]! I watched it with some friends, and this was better than watching it live because the tickets to that are worth a [lot of money],” Chigrina said.

However, unlike Hamilton, Wonder Woman 1984 was released on HBO Max in theaters on the same day. Fans could choose to subscribe to the streaming platform for $15 a month to watch the movie while it was there, or go see the movie in the nearest open theater. This strategy by big movie industries can be controversial, as there are chances that audiences would prefer to stay home rather than to see the movie on the big screen. This could be a big factor for the future of film. This is the first time that these options were made available due to the pandemic, and if it succeeds, the world could see this occur more expansively.

As was mentioned beforehand, the popularity of such streaming services has also changed compared to movie theaters. As of Feb. 2021, Disney+ has reached 94.9 million subscribers, and are expected to reach around 260 million by 2024. At the end of 2020, HBO Max stood at 37.7 million subscribers. Although, with the Coronavirus and movie theaters opening and closing, these numbers can fluctuate even more as time goes on.

Freshman Marvin Chen described his view on the sustainability of watching films online and if this will continue in the future.

“I think [watching movies through streaming services] is only temporary because I think people still want to get the sensation of going out and watching movies [rather than] just staying at home and watching movies by yourself,” Chen said.

The choice between watching a movie at home or in a movie theater can be a hard one, and so can the decision of whether to release a movie straight to a streaming platform or not.

Freshman Annabel Ho elaborated on whether releasing movies both in theaters and online is a good idea.

“I think it’s a smart decision to release them in both places because at least movie theaters can still partially be open. And if someone wants to stay safe and inside they can still watch movies at the comfort of their homes. If people want to support their local movie theaters, they can. That’s why it’s a smart decision,” Ho said.

“I think the movie experience varies from watching movies with an audience compared to the comfort of your home,” Ho said, “One, [it] has a better sound system! Not only that, it’s on a much bigger screen… and what not… I think when you’re at home you lose the movie theater vibe. You lose the experiences from the buttery popcorn… and the semi-uncomfortable seats, but still that’s what makes watching a movie in a movie theater so different.”

Both streaming services and movie theaters were financially affected by the pandemic. Cinemas suffered from huge losses in the past year, as AMC Theaters, one of the biggest movie chains in the United States, have lost around $4.6 billion in 2020. On the other hand, Disney+ has managed to gain $38.9 billion in revenue within the first half of the same year.

Senior Ran Futerman is also interested in how movies going online and in person at the same time could affect the future of movie watching for fans.

“I don’t think the pandemic will continue for much longer, with a lot of different companies getting closer and closer to an entirely working vaccine. I think streaming services will and already are taking over theaters, but theaters will probably still stay open and have it’s own smaller audience,” Futerman said.

The number of outcomes that might occur with these decisions are countless. From what it would seem, streaming services such as Disney+, HBO Max and the recently launched Paramount+ could be overtaking the movie theater industry. The pandemic has caused a lot of this, though, so this may end up being either temporary or long term. Once the pandemic is over and cinemas are reopened to the public, there is more than a possibility that the growth of streaming service subscribers will decrease and the movie theaters will see its viewership slowly go back to what it used to be.

At the end of the day, the big movie industries are trying to make as much money as possible, and releasing their movies on streaming platforms along with in theaters is one way to do so, despite the risks that come with it. Movies such as Disney’s Mulan, Warner Bros’ Tenet and Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon have followed suit with what Wonder Woman 1984 and Hamilton did, so fans could see this start to happen more often. Also, as fans and movie gowers, they will determine whether moving movies to streaming platforms was the correct decision.