The New York Times had an

interesting article the other day about how DVDs & TiVO are changing the habits of people, who are staying home instead of heading to the theatre.

The article says that people have started to find that going to theatres may not be worth the trouble, when they can wait 4 months until a movie is out on DVD to watch it in the comfort of their own home. Hollywood is still raking in money at the Box Office (9 billion+ Dollars) so it isn't DYING, but there is a drop in attendance. What's a Multi-Million Dollar studio to do to save their profits at the box office?

In my mind, this is actually a double edged sword. Sure Hollywood provides the PRODUCT for a Theatre to show, but the local cineplex has a part to play as well. Here then, are my suggestions to help Hollywood and Movie Theatres save their profits:

1) Embrace Digital. Film is dying. Sure, it was great a hundred years ago, but now it seems archiac. When a movie is being shot & chopped digitally, it seems BACKWARDS to convert it to film for distribution. I've heard the arguments: It's too expensive for the theatres to convert to digital, and the Studios are worried about piracy. If a studio can spend $100 million on making a movie, maybe they can afford a little R & D to find ways to help theatres convert to digital.

2) Piracy As long as a movie is PROJECTED on a SCREEN, piracy will exist.

3) 3D Lately a few top movie directors have said that 3D could be a good deterrent to piracy. I'm not convinced this is the case. People download movies recorded off a screen in a Theatre with Crappy Sound and peoples HEADS in the frame. Do you really think a Blurry picture will stop them?
If everyone thinks 3D is the way to go, here's what I think COULD be done:
Devise a system that eliminates the screen, and project the images IN the Glasses. Again, using some R & D, come up with a way to let the Digital System know when glasses are being used to activate them. If a special signal ISN'T being received, no video goes to that port. This system should be simple to implement, if you have $100 million to spend.

4) Movie Theatres - Get USHERS that do MORE than clean up If theatres don't take steps to stop people from being jerks in theatres, then they will lose business. They have to be proactive in getting people to behave. Maybe have VIP Theatres Certain Screens showing certain movies with a little stricter followup on stuff like Cell Phones. In those theatres, maybe don't ALLOW couples with babies to wander in. Just a few simple steps, may make things a lot better for everyone.

Overall, Hollywood is in a Win/Win situation: revenue from DVDs are skyrocketing and theatrical revenue, although LOWER isn't exactly hurting their coffers. It's the Theatre Owners that will ultimately lose out, if they can't change with the times.

What do you think? How can people be enticed to get back into the theatres? Will theatres ultimately go the way of the drive in?

The floor is open for your comments.