>Before then, every entrenched name in Hollywood mocked the internet as something consumers would never prefer for movies.
This was a big misjudgement in thinking that people cared more about the theatrical experience than just the consumption of the content. Going to the movies became a chore, which allowed for those "niche" theaters that sold tickets while allowing the specific seat to be selected, better experience of kicking out mobile device users, etc. That made movie going only tolerable for me, but still not required. Watching in the comfort of my home while avoiding crowds (even before covid) was well worth the smaller screen and less of an audio experience.
Sadly, it took a global pandemic for traditional studios to catch on to the simultaneous releases. Hopefully, they recognize that getting someone to watch at home doesn't mean that they prevented someone from seeing the theater, rather as someone that was not going to see it precisely because they weren't going to the theater and not seeing it at all (during those opening week numbers)
Way before pandemic -- House of Cards was 2013 -- another factor was probably cheaper, larger home displays.
Also around that time, "wire cutters" were massing, pissed at the cable mentality of curation: watching what they offered, on the device they permitted, on the schedule they dictated, and also forced to pay for channels you didn't want. Bit Torrent and Netflix together offered a far more pleasant alternative.
House of Cards was never a theatrical bit of content, so not quite the same thing for this discussion specifically. Episodic content was still "TV Programming" by the feature types. In 2013, episodics were still getting people used to the serial or limited series type of content. This has been my favorite format for some time now. More time to tell a story than a single feature, yet short enough to avoid filling time with cruft just to reach an arbitrary episode count. The 8-10 episode hour long series are great for really in-depth stories.
This was a big misjudgement in thinking that people cared more about the theatrical experience than just the consumption of the content. Going to the movies became a chore, which allowed for those "niche" theaters that sold tickets while allowing the specific seat to be selected, better experience of kicking out mobile device users, etc. That made movie going only tolerable for me, but still not required. Watching in the comfort of my home while avoiding crowds (even before covid) was well worth the smaller screen and less of an audio experience.
Sadly, it took a global pandemic for traditional studios to catch on to the simultaneous releases. Hopefully, they recognize that getting someone to watch at home doesn't mean that they prevented someone from seeing the theater, rather as someone that was not going to see it precisely because they weren't going to the theater and not seeing it at all (during those opening week numbers)