Stephen King thinks they know why people prefer movie streams as well as watching in cinemas

The theatrical box office did not bounce in the way Hollywood hoped. The first quarter of 2025 was slow and even the summer success season did not provide the type of record numbers that once were the norm.

James Gunn’S Superman The new film universe of DC has launched and has withdrawn about $ 600 million all over the world. It is solid, but not at the same level as the mega-hit as the pre-2013 era.

Marvel did not go much better with her three films this year, all landing in the same range of $ 600 million. Also F1A huge automotive show with a huge budget has just crossed that line.

It is sad, but people do not present themselves to cinemas as they once were, and there are many reasons why. The complaints for the crowded auditorium, the ticket prices and the increased concession and the annoyance of light phones in the dark did not help.

Add the fact that the cinema pre-shows now extend over 30 minutes and start to understand why to stay at home sounds like the best option. Especially when the new versions struck streaming only a few months later, giving the public a much more convenient way to look from the sofa.

But Stephen King Do you think there is another reason behind the turn and it has nothing to do with long trailer or popcorn too expensive. For him, the key factor is subtitles.

King has shared his theory on threads, underlining that home spectators now have an advantage that theaters cannot offer … The ability to activate subtitles when dialogue becomes difficult to listen to. He wrote:

“The obvious advantage of streaming on cinema films is that you can watch them at home. The secret weapon of streamers, in particular when it comes to movies in which the characters have strong accents: subtitles. […] The young actors in particular do not seem to understand the projection. Perhaps because they work on TV and movie without any theatrical experience “.

He is not wrong on the popularity of subtitles. According to Indiewire, about half of all spectators at home now watch movies with subtitles. This is partly due to audio problems, the action scenes tend to explode at full volume while the dialogue is swallowed up by a whisper.

Much of this derives from the way the films are mixed for large theatrical audio systems, which do not always translate well into a living room TV. For many, subtitles solve that problem and even help to concentrate when phones and other distractions are just a scope.

King also focuses a finger at modern acting. Today’s artists often promote a more naturalistic and intimate delivery style, which may seem mumbled instead of projecting. Unlike the actors of the stage trained to fill an entire room with their voice, many younger actors have spent their entire career in front of cameras and microphones. The result is a lot of dialogues they don’t bring.

Whether it is a poor mixing of sound, changing recitation styles or only the ease of having subtitles at hand, King’s Point highlights that the experience of home viewing has become more attractive than the theatrical one.