Battle between theatre owners and OTT players intensify over movie releases

Even as the battle between movie theatre owners and video streaming applications intensified after Amazon announced 7 new movies to be premièred on Prime, experts said this will be a temporary phase, owing to the coronavirus pandemic and the changes it is necessitating. This is akin to how people prophesied the death of theatres back when televisions emerged, they said, pointing out that, if anything, there will be a coexistence of theatres and over-the-top platforms when it comes to movie releases.

“The cinema offers a larger than life experience. That cannot be replicated easily by television or OTT platforms. Films can be seen by several means. However, going to the cinema hall adds an important dimension – it becomes a social occasion and a collective experience.