When I heard about Cathay Cineplexes closing down, my first reaction was honestly just sadness. Like, proper sadness. Then my producer brain kicked in and I got practical.
Here's the thing though - I've been sitting in half-empty theaters in Singapore while literally watching massive cinema expansion happening in India and Indonesia. The story everyone's telling about cinema's death? It's missing what's actually happening.
The problem isn't streaming killing cinema. The real problem is that cinema accidentally became a luxury product without anyone really noticing.
The $100 Movie Problem
Let me break this down for you. A family of four in Singapore - movie tickets are $15 each. Then you add popcorn (because come on, you can't watch a movie without popcorn), drinks, and a taxi home because the last show ends late.
Before you know it, you're looking at $100 or more for what used to be a simple movie night.
That's not casual entertainment anymore - that's a luxury purchase competing with weekend getaways and nice dinners out. When inflation tightens purse strings, luxury experiences get cut first. Singapore households have been cutting discretionary spending on entertainment as inflation impacts budgets.
I've been to Singapore cinemas recently, and honestly? The empty seats tell the story better than any industry report I could quote. People aren't choosing streaming over cinema because it's more convenient. They're choosing it because it makes financial sense.
Look, Cathay's desperate attempt to stay afloat with discount vouchers basically proved my point. When you have to slash prices in half just to get people through the door, your pricing was always the problem.
The Streaming Pivot Reality
Here's what's changed for production companies across the industry: theatrical distribution used to be where most of the money came from. Now? It's all about streaming. Industry reports consistently show streaming revenue now dominates film monetization globally.
This shift completely changes how we think about making films. We're not just creating for the big screen anymore - we're making films that need to grab attention in a sea of thousands of titles on streaming platforms.
And honestly? The economics are brutal. Streaming platforms mostly pay one-off licensing fees. Theatrical distribution gives you a cut of box office revenue. Independent filmmakers increasingly struggle with streaming's limited revenue potential compared to traditional theatrical splits. Limited earning potential means tighter budgets and different genre choices.
That's why I've started focusing more on thrillers, sci-fi, and horror films. These genres actually work in both worlds. Drama and rom-coms? People are happy to watch those at home now, but they rarely justify the cost of a theatrical release anymore.
Asian Markets Buck The Trend
But here's where it gets interesting - while Singapore struggles, other Asian markets are telling a completely different story. The Asia Pacific cinema market is experiencing growth in several key markets.
In India, where we are currently shooting our first Tamil-language feature film, going to the movies is still a proper family weekend activity. Families still go together - it's social, it's traditional, and the market is actually growing. The Indian cinema market continues to show strong growth, with theatrical releases remaining culturally significant.
Indonesia and Thailand? They're massively expanding their cinema infrastructure. New multiplexes are opening left and right, not closing down. Indonesia's cinema industry is experiencing significant growth, with local content accounting for an increasing share of box office revenue. The difference is ticket pricing and cultural context.
These markets get something that Singapore seems to have forgotten: cinema needs to be accessible, not premium.
The challenge in these expanding Asian markets is different though. You can sell loads of tickets, but each ticket brings in less money. Success means figuring out how to make cost-effective films that still deliver proper cinematic experiences on tight budgets.
Genre Strategy For Survival
When we're producing films now, we have to think about dual distribution from day one. The question becomes: what actually works in both cinema and streaming?
Action and thriller genres travel well across platforms. They justify big screen experiences while holding attention on smaller screens. Fantasy and sci-fi create spectacle that streaming can't fully replicate.
Comedy and drama face harder choices. Audiences increasingly watch these genres at home. The intimate nature of these stories doesn't lose much on streaming platforms.
So we're tailoring our production slate accordingly. Not because we want to abandon certain genres - trust me, I'd love to make more intimate dramas - but because the economics force our hand. Films need to work across multiple revenue streams to justify their budgets.
Infrastructure Versus Agility
Cathay's closure really shows the fundamental mismatch between cinema infrastructure and how fast the industry is evolving. Cinemas are like massive tankers that take forever to change direction, while the industry is moving at startup speed.
Singapore's crazy real estate costs make this even worse. When you're renting massive spaces in prime shopping mall locations and audience numbers drop, the math just doesn't work anymore. Singapore retail rents are among the highest in Asia-Pacific, making cinema operations particularly challenging. The infrastructure costs are fixed while revenue becomes variable.
The landlords and property owners? They haven't adjusted to the new reality. They're still pricing cinema space like it's 2015, based on pre-streaming assumptions about foot traffic and revenue.
Meanwhile, production companies like us can pivot quickly. We've expanded from Singapore to Malaysia, the Philippines, and are actively working in India now - in just two years. We've adapted our genre focus and distribution strategy based on what the market is actually telling us.
Cinema chains need that same agility, but their physical infrastructure makes it nearly impossible.
The Experience Transformation
Look, cinema isn't dying. It's transforming from the default entertainment option into something more specialized.
The Southeast Asian cinema market shows continued growth potential despite challenges in individual markets. The real question is whether cinema operators can actually adapt their business models fast enough.
The cinemas that survive will be the ones focusing on experiences you simply can't get at home. Premium formats, social viewing experiences, curated programming that actually justifies paying that price premium.
In India, cinema is still a family bonding activity - the cultural context supports regular attendance. Other markets need to either rebuild that social connection or find completely new value propositions.
For production companies like us, this means creating content that works for both audiences: the people who still want that cinema experience and the people who just want convenience.
The Production Company Perspective
Honestly? If someone handed me the keys to a cinema chain tomorrow, I'd probably try to sell it. The business model just feels too challenging for where the market is right now.
Production companies have way more flexibility. We can adjust budgets, pivot genres, explore new markets quickly. Cinema chains? They're locked into expensive infrastructure and inflexible lease agreements.
The future belongs to agile content creators who really understand both theatrical and streaming distribution. That's what we're building at Wave Films - production models that actually work across multiple platforms and price points.
Cinema will survive, but it's going to be smaller, more specialized, and yes, more expensive. The mass market has moved to streaming. What's left is the premium experience market.
So Cathay's closure? It's not the final act for cinema. It's the end of cinema as a mass market commodity and the beginning of cinema as something more curated.
The theaters that survive will be the ones that embrace this transformation instead of fighting it tooth and nail.