I can’t imagine the movie theater experience changing very much at all. I don’t think anything about it has changed significantly since my childhood, except that it’s become more expensive. I mean, things keep getting “bigger and better”, but I avoid going to newer theaters and choose to go to older, smaller single-screen theaters because I find the overwhelming aura of newer theaters unpleasant. They also tend to not play the movies I would be interested in seeing. I personally cannot conceive of opportunities for brand advertising in future cinema-theater environments. Well, I mean I can imagine that new theaters will be built and be filled with brand advertising, but probably people will find ways to continue to ignore that aspect of the movie-going experience. The most popular theater with people I know that go see new movies is Arclight, which charges a premium for instance to not subject people to ads. It seems… pretty much strictly about movies. They have their little gift shop, which is full of books about movies, film magazines, and things like that.
And then bars. I find it too bourgeois and faux-luxury for my tastes but I suppose I see something of the appeal. The future of cinema is certainly not 3D. I don’t really have much to say that Roger Ebert hasn’t already said. It’s a cute novelty I suppose but it doesn’t really do much for me. I don’t go to the cinema to see special effects. It goes without saying that these revisions of movies already released but all done-up with supposed 3D is just a shameless money racket. Unless studios take 3D seriously, there’s no reason an audience will either.
(Sprint: In-theater cinema/LA)