Disclaimer: This entry contains my personal opinions and I have no expectation of convincing anyone to agree with me.

Around my area, theaters haven’t been open for a while. They’ve tried, only to shut back down again. The reason for this, of course, is COVID-19. At the moment, gone are the days where I purchased tickets in advance for an opening night showing of something, and my Regal Unlimited subscription has been left on hold. Who knows when, if ever, I’ll be able to resume that program.

Production challenges due to COVID aside, I’ve been wondering at how drastically the movie-going experience is going to be from now on. I started thinking this when I noticed some movies that were supposed to be released in theaters were releasing through streaming services instead. I don’t remember what those were off the top of my head now. The most recent ones I’ve noticed are Mulan (which I think is ridiculous Disney+ is asking you to pay for a premium subscription just for that movie when you’re already paying for the whole lot—not to mention I don’t think Disney+ is worth it unless you love watching Disney and Pixar movies repeatedly—even if The Mandalorian is AWESOME), and Wonder Woman: 1984.

Wonder Woman: 1984 is going to release simultaneously in theaters (which I will likely not be doing because of the COVID risks) and HBO Max. I will most likely do it through their subscription service. I haven’t activated one yet, so I’ll probably hold out to free trial it to watch the movie and cross my fingers they won’t require an additional premium to see it (but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did).

Buying popcorn the other day to watch a movie on Netflix at home (since I miss the movie-going experience), I realized this might be the new way we pay for and watch movies if ever or when COVID blows over.

Upon further contemplation, the introverted side of me probably wouldn’t mind at all. Buy some popcorn at a store, pop it myself, sit down and watch a newly released movie from home; although depending on how they jack up the prices (which I’m sure they would, too), I might just start waiting until they release for the usual rent or buy it digitally prices at home. That would definitely change the timeline in which I review movies on here, but I don’t really mind in the slightest.

Needless to say, I’m interested to see how things go. I’ll be sure to update my thoughts later on as things change.