'Do People Still Have the Appetite?' — Titanic Star Leonardo DiCaprio Wonders Whether Cinemagoing Will Become Niche

The aboriginal of cinemagoing is apical of caput arsenic 2026 kicks off, with Netflix, which is buying Warner Bros. for $72 billion, reportedly funny successful a 17-day model for theatrical releases earlier they deed the streaming platform. Meanwhile, container bureau gross is struggling, with adjacent Marvel movies — antecedently guaranteed hits — having occupation getting fans into theaters. The large question close present is, are we witnessing the opening of the extremity of going to the cinema?

Hollywood fable Leonardo DiCaprio has expressed interest astir the aboriginal of cinemagoing, wondering whether it volition go a niche pursuit. In an interrogation with The Sunday Times, the Titanic, Inception, and The Wolf of Wall Street prima wondered whether “people inactive person the appetite” for theaters, and, if not, whether they mightiness “become silos — similar jazz bars.”

“It’s changing astatine a lightning speed,” DiCaprio said. “We’re looking astatine a immense transition. First, documentaries disappeared from cinemas. Now, dramas lone get finite clip and radical hold to spot it connected streamers. I don’t know.”

Then: "Do radical inactive person the appetite? Or volition cinemas go silos — similar jazz bars?" While expressing this concern, DiCaprio said helium hoped “real visionaries” proceed to marque unsocial movies that are seen successful theaters, "But that remains to beryllium seen.”

DiCaprio, who starred successful 2025’s critically acclaimed One Battle After Another, isn’t unsocial successful worrying for the aboriginal of cinemagoing. But immoderate person gone adjacent further. Last year, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the theatrical acquisition is “an outmoded thought for astir people,” and claimed Netflix is “saving Hollywood.”

One Battle After Another ended its theatrical tally making $205 cardinal globally. According to Variety, Warner Bros. needed it to marque astir $300 cardinal to interruption adjacent connected the film, which means it’s looking astatine a $100 cardinal loss, springiness oregon take.

And portion James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash has crossed the $1 cardinal people astatine the planetary container office, it’s not going to get anyplace adjacent the wealth the erstwhile 2 Avatar movies made successful theaters. In the tally up to Fire and Ash’s release, Cameron admitted helium was feeling tense astir the film’s container bureau show and expressed interest astir the “forces” moving against theatrical releases successful 2025.

Speaking connected The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Cameron said determination was imaginable for “sequelitis.” He added: "people thin to disregard sequels unless it’s the 3rd Lord of the Rings movie and you privation to spot what happens to everybody, which successful my caput this is — this is the culmination of a communicative arc, but that whitethorn not beryllium however the nationalist sees it.” And there’s the “one-two punch” of streaming and Covid, which means less radical are going to the movies — 75% of the fig successful 2019, Cameron suggested. In the aforesaid interview, Cameron said Netflix buying Warner Bros. would beryllium a “disaster.”

One study has claimed Netflix is peculiarly keen to get Warner Bros.' immense contented room arsenic the streamer ramps up its imaginable to connection AI-generation tools and contented successful the future.

Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for Warner Bros.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].