5 years after COVID closed theaters, movies are still struggling to climb back

While the COVID shutdown absolutely was a 'gut shot' to the industry, based on the number of ticket sales each year, the movie theater business was in gradual decline since before COVID.

Post-shutdown, 2023 was the highpoint in sales and that was only two-thirds of what it was in 2019.

On a personal note, prior to COVID my wife and I would go see a movie on average of once or twice every two months. Post COVID we've only been to one movie theater.

A number of factors have led to the change for us, but I think one of the biggest is that we adapted to other entertainment avenues and do much more movie streaming when we want to watch something (especially since the 'box office' to 'streaming' time has greatly decreased over the years).
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* Domestic Movie Theatrical Market Summary 1995 to 2025 - https://www.the-numbers.com/market/

Donald Trump closed the theaters. He closed America, when he refused to admit there was a pandemic and instead allowed it into the country and then allowed it to spread before any measures could be taken early on to contain. He was President at the time, not "democrats." He OWNS what the pandemic became. He owns it.

...it is a definite concern for the industry... they are working on boosting sales as a current priority