End Of The Multiplex?

Don't Cry For Hollywood Yet -- There May Still Be A Need for Cinemas

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

Recently at my local movie theater, I recognized that many of the films being played, even premiering, were already on my son's computer. He and his friends had already downloaded the movies BEFORE they even came out in theaters! I had no idea this technology was around, and it makes me question the future of cinemas. In college, I loved going to see movies in theaters with friends or even by myself, but will theaters soon become obsolete?

Sincerely,

Mistress of Movies

Dear Mistress of Movies,

Hollywood has been crying out in the last couple of years your concerns. With movies available on the Internet, studios are considering whether or not to release DVDs the same day a movie opens in theaters. Is this a sign that people will completely desert the mutiplex in favor of watching films on HD DVD players or Blu-Ray?

Don't start crying for Hollywood just yet ... Technology doesn't affect movie going as much as the fact that American families are changing. There are more singles than married adults now, than ever before, and more divorced singles (sometimes more than once or twice) than ever before. This means that there are more dates and dates will always involve getting out of the house and going places -- the movies being one of the most popular places to be, besides restaurants.

So, no matter what the technology, as long as there are singles, and more and more singles, there will always be movies at the theaters for singles to attend on dates.

In addition, more families are having children later in life when they have more disposable income. Thirty- and 40- year-old parents are much more common than 20-year-old parents -- the once most common age group of parents for child rearing. These parents are taking their children to more movies than ever before and there is an increased output of movies for children -- way more than a decade ago.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

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