Annus horribilis. This is how cinema will remember this 2025, with October and November which marked a dramatic drop to say the least, 2 million fewer admissions compared to 2024. All things considered, as many as 4 million spectators did not show up for films which in the past would have done well but which floundered, often very badly. A dramatic picture, which tells us about a radical change in the industry. And Italy, obviously, has the most problems of all in this case too.

Rooms increasingly deserted by a public that has changed

For cinema, 2025 was a showdown, with an increasingly dramatic and uncontrollable situation. We can no longer count the disappointments in the cinema, the flops, the losses for a sector which, since Covid19, has no longer been able to recover. It seemed like only yesterday that the theaters brought a flood of spectators, that the MCU, for example, recorded record takings. Then something happened, or rather several things happened. We can no longer find a winning formula.

Box office stars like The Rock or Tom Cruise have recorded significant debacles, the first with “The Smashing Machine”, the second with the last two chapters of the “Mission: Impossible” saga. But the entire industry can no longer find the key to the problem. And it has nothing to do with having good or bad ideas, the point is that the public is evidently either not being reached in the right way, or has simply decided that going to the cinema must be really worth it, it must be an event, something to remember. We all know the alternative: staying at home, 50-inch televisions, latest generation audio systems.

No neighbors looking at their cell phones, making a mess, no rooms with uncomfortable seats, dirt and much more. But the economic situation should not be underestimated. The world lives in a state of perpetual crisis and uncertainty, no country is safe, so why go to the cinema, get a couple of tickets (maybe add a snack each) and end up with 20 euros less each? For the same amount, Netflix and Prime Video will give you the same film in a month or so.

The public clearly chooses: “Lilo & Stitch”, “A Minecraft Movie”, the new Jurassic World, “How to Train Your Dragon”, with which we are at 600 million dollars. Once upon a time it was an average success, but now it’s mouth-watering. Disney has shaped an entire generation by dint of comics, but now that they are dying, they don’t go to the cinema.

Many don’t like the industry’s new Woke trend. The public goes to the cinema to have fun, to be distracted. Cinema today produces a lot but work is done very poorly on editing, effects and promotion. But there’s more, cinema now has to provide guarantees in terms of directors, the cast alone is no longer enough.

Cinema must embrace quality again

Do you want an example? We already know that Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” will hit the box office, James Cameron lies knowing he is lying when he talks about a possible flop for “Avatar 3”. The public trusts them, they know they will get what they ask for. But then a certain type of average cinema, signed by good authors, engaging and accessible, disappeared. Now an authorship that goes around in circles dominates, the industry is managed by incompetent people, who treat films like hamburgers, but cinema is also art, and if this element of authenticity is missing, then everything collapses.

Then there is the problem of promotion, positioning and distribution policy. From this point of view, Italy, also given the Government’s substantial cuts, the absence of a real industry as in other European countries, the old producers stuck in the 90s, is naturally at the rear, missing out on incredible opportunities. Do you want an example? The beautiful “40 seconds” by Vincenzo Alfieri, on the tragic killing of Willy Monteiro. At the moment it is an absurd economic flop, despite its value.

The reason is not only in an audience that rewards Pio and Amedeo, “Wicked – Part 2”, the disengagement, but of an incorrect conception of positioning. Schools were not involved, there was no viral marketing, it was not designed for a foreign market, where such a film would have much more appeal given the different audience. It was presented at the Rome Film Festival, instead of Berlin, perhaps Cannes.

Ozpetek’s latest, “Diamonds,” ended up distributed in 40 countries. Sure, it was 15 million strong in our country, but are we sure that “40 seconds” with the right catwalk, wouldn’t have garnered the right distribution attention? Streaming will come to the rescue, both the enemy and lifesaver of modern cinema. There is no point in denying it, certain films will only be able to be seen there in the future, theaters (apart from arthouse ones) will no longer willingly show them, see “Anora”, which we cannot find.

Cinema must review its costs, favor quality, stop remakes or similar, create new marketing strategies. Thinking that influencers and content creators are the solution is more tragic than comical.