Pass culture in the U.S. will quickly kill the value of films. It will have an OTT-like impact sooner or later.
Going forward, a significant portion of U.S. audiences will skip films if passes are not available from day one. With more films offering passes on day one this year, it is rapidly becoming a standard expectation for audiences.
If there are no passes, they will simply wait for them to be enabled, just like a large section of the audience waiting for OTT instead of going to theaters in the U.S.
U.S. distributors need to understand the long-term impact.
You already ruined footfalls with high ticket prices, and now jumping on passes too fast will further dilute this market.
For this Sankranthi, out of five releases, four movies had passes activated on day one or two itself, showing the desperation without concern for the long-term impact.
