The popular movie theater format has been the same for decades, it's time for a change.

Want better movies? 0:00<br>Why I don't go to theaters : 4:49<br>What we should have instead: 6:23<br>How would it work? : 13:22<br> <br>There's a lot wrong with theaters these days but I'm certain that theaters are still needed and wanted. It's time for innovation and radical change. Theaters have been essentially the same for decades, the bones of the theatrical system is still the same as it was back in the good old days of Hollywood. It's time to let the good old days die. We need either completely new players or a revolution from the existing ones to make some changes.<br><br>Theaters need to change in every way. We need movies to be better, we need the experience to be better and movie going culture needs to be better. People love the location based experience of theaters; it's where we go to share our love of movies. But let's be honest, unless you go to an independent theater (where the best ones thrive), your experience might be good but it won't be great. There's just not enough competition for the massive chains. And in the unlikely event you get the best experience possible today, why can't we imagine just going to a better version of that experience?<br><br>Theater culture is also not good, and the theaters don't want it to be. They want you to go in, watch a movie in a way that's as close to watching the movie at home as possible, and then leave. They would prefer you to leave by yourself if possible. Our theater going culture is not great because the system is designed to be the same for everyone. You have no choice in how you want to see a movie when you go to a theater. You're given a certain choice of format, a certain choice of seat, a certain choice of sound, a certain choice in food. Theaters need to compete on more than just location.<br><br>And the movies are terrible. You know this, they're terrible. Look at the top 10 highest grossing movies of this year. I bet half of them or more were trash. Theaters thrive on low quality trash because that's what gets the money in. These trash movies wouldn't have nearly the same level of appeal if it wasn't on a big screen with big sound. So moviegoers are forced to go to theaters and watch trash just to get the experience they want. If you want to watch trash sometimes, you're punished. The best movies don't thrive in theaters, it's the trash that does.<br><br>So let's imagine a completely new format. A movie theater that isn't just a format, but an experience. How great would it be if you could go to a movie theater that was also a food court, a bar, a place to hang out in the evening with friends, a movie store or an arcade? Theaters are great places to socialize, they're fun to go to, but they don't allow you to do it. Once you've bought your ticket you are confined to one theater with a bunch of strangers you don't know. Video game theaters have been an interesting experiment recently, I think they're close to the best example out there today of what could be done differently. Just the addition of more food options is a major step forward. What if we didn't have to sit in a movie theater for two hours waiting for a movie to start? What if we could just play video games or eat until the movie starts? What if we could just eat and watch a movie? What if we could just play video games and watch a movie? There's a lot we could do if we actually cared about a good experience for the moviegoer.<br><br>Even in the movies themselves we could make some huge changes. First of all, we need to get rid of the room full of strangers format. Isn't that going to hurt the communal experience of going to a theater? Not if you have a choice. If you have the choice to watch a movie alone, with your friends or with strangers, isn't that better than being forced to watch a movie in one way? I would go to the theater a lot more if I could choose the type of experience I have every time. Sometimes I'd watch a movie alone, sometimes I'd watch it with my friends and sometimes I'd watch it with strangers. If you want the communal experience, nothing would have changed. If you want a different experience, you would have a different choice.<br><br>This is what I would like to see: a new concept that replaces everything we have today. A format where you choose the size of theater room you want. You could watch a movie alone if you want, you could choose a cozy private room, you could choose a theater with 50 people in it and you could choose a giant theater with 500 people in it. This would have a few benefits, the first being you could choose how you want to see a movie. The second is that they could cater a lot better to the size of the audience of a movie. Remember when you used to go to a theater on a weekday at 2pm and all the theaters were empty? Remember when you used to go to a theater on a Friday night at 9pm and all the theaters were full? What a waste of space for the empty theater! Now they could save space and power by projecting a movie for 5 people in a smaller theater. They could also cater better to movies for niche audiences. For example instead of showing an indie movie on 2 screens that each have 200 seats, they could show it on 8 screens that have 50 seats. They could also cater a lot better to movies that have a big enthusiastic audience. They could have a lot more giant 500 seat theaters for blockbuster movies that everyone loves.<br><br>You could also choose the seats, the format, the sound, the lighting, the food service and the experience. Watching a scary movie? It could be dark and scary. Watching a comedy? It could be light and fun. Want to watch a movie in a room with a 70mm projector? You could do that. Want to watch a movie in IMAX, 3D, 4DX, Dolby, etc? You could choose any format. Want to lie down during a movie? You could do that. Want a private room that you can lay down in? You could do that. Want a giant movie throne? You could do that. Do you want to watch a movie while eating a meal? You could do that. Do you want to see a preview for a movie before you watch it? You could choose to. Do you want to watch a movie with no previews? You could do that. Do you want to watch a movie without any of the security ads? You could do that.<br><br>All movie theaters should allow you to choose your seat beforehand. It's baffling that they haven't already done this. If you could choose beforehand you could pick out your seat in the theater. Theaters would have a lot less wasted space. If people have already picked out their seats beforehand, theaters can get a much better estimate of how full the theater will be. They could also change the seat arrangement to save more space. If you could see beforehand the empty seats you could plan around them. Just imagine the amount of wasted space we would free up if we didn't have a row of empty seats in the middle. Or if we didn't have to leave a row open in front of a giant IMAX screen. What if instead of having seats bolted to the floor we could just have beanbag chairs that could be moved around? We could always replace the seats in the middle with beanbag chairs and then fill the beanbag chairs in the empty rows in the back with the seats we're not using. And we could move the front row of seats closer and have a bean bag chair row closer to the screen.<br><br>And finally, theater owners have a conflict of interest in showing independent movies. Independent movies are movies with less of a built in audience, they're more niche and they're a risk. Theaters want to show movies with a built in audience; they're less niche and they're a guarantee. So they have no interest in showing independent films, but they're forced to because it's their job. So they should be given a choice. If you want to see indie movies, go to an indie theater. If you want to watch blockbuster movies, go to a blockbuster theater. You could see a lot less independent movies in blockbuster theaters and a lot more blockbuster movies in indie theaters, but you would at least have the choice.<br><br>That's my idea. Imagine a better experience, imagine a better choice of seats, imagine a better choice of format, imagine a better choice of food, imagine a better choice of movies. Imagine a better theater.