What future for cinemas in a world dominated by Netflix and Amazon?

Established cinema chains in the UK such as Vue, Odeon, Cineworld and Everyman are clearly under competitive threat from the rise to scale and prominence of digital streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. The same is true in many other countries.

By some estimates in 2018 Netflix will have released nearly 60 films and some directors such as Paul Greengrass have opted to go straight to streaming and release their films on Netflix rather than go for wider distribution in theatres. In the third quarter of 2018, Netflix had over 137 million streaming subscribers worldwide.

Here is some recommended reading on this issue:

Can Netflix Take Over Hollywood? (New Republic, April 2018)

Inside Netflix's $8 billion plan for world entertainment domination (Wired, August 2018)

Go big or go home: IMAX and the future of cinema (Tech Radar, September 2018)

'I can see Amazon or Netflix looking at getting into cinemas,' says Vue boss Tim Richards - the man who built a £1.6bn cinema chain (This is Money, March 2018)

Netflix Isn’t Killing Movie Theaters, Study Shows (Variety, December 2018)

This was the year Netflix took on the cinema establishment and won (Guardian, December 2018)