Audiences aren’t flocking to streaming original movies anymore
Audiences aren’t flocking to streaming original movies anymore
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, studios are increasing their focus on theatrical releases, and streamers are pulling back their original movie slates.
One of the biggest headaches for movie studios is that cinemas are still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance and revenue are slowly creeping back upward, but they haven’t yet approached pre-pandemic levels, and there are some executives and analysts who are nervous that they never will. However, new data from Luminate might help to allay some fears; Luminate Film & TV’s 2024 Year-End Report has some fascinating insights on the decreasing number of streaming original movies. Not only is this because streamers are trying to slim down their content budgets but also because studios are refocusing their attention on theatrical releases.
Key Details:
- Theatrical release numbers have risen steadily since 2021, whereas streaming original films have declined.
- Viewership for streaming original movies is also going down, suggesting audiences are headed back to cinemas.
- Netflix’s original movie “Carry-On” drew around one-third of the views that “Turning Red” did in 2021.
Luminate’s data shows that the total number of theatrical releases has steadily grown from 2022 through 2024. The two pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 each saw fewer than 1,000 theatrical titles, and streaming original film releases exploded simultaneously. Streaming releases reached their apex in 2022 with 339 titles, but that number has fallen each year since.
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Most of the top streaming services belong to entertainment companies that also own theatrical studio businesses, which following the pandemic were eager to get audiences back into cinemas because theatrical releases bring in more money than streaming ones do. As such, there has been a marked decline in the release of streaming original movies; even streamers like Apple TV+ and Netflix that don’t have legacy movie studios are paring back their content spends on original films.
However, the desire to get audiences back in cinemas is not the only reason behind the pivot; the audience for streaming-exclusive films has also been steadily declining. In 2024, the most-viewed streaming original movie was Netflix’s “Carry-On,” which attracted 45 million original views. That number is roughly one-third of the views attracted by 2022’s “Turning Red” on Disney+, which climbed to 133 million+.
Total annual viewership for streaming original movies is also declining year-over-year. In 2022, streaming movies drew nearly 500 million views, but that number dipped to just above 300 million in 2024. This is good news for theater chains that are desperate for audiences to return, and it shows that viewers are still invested in the cinematic experience.
The pandemic ushered in a new era of watching movies at home, but it appears that era was short-lived. Viewers aren’t as invested in streaming original movies as they were at the height of COVID, and streamers are responding with fewer releases as a result.
Netflix
Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”