Can the DVD kill the multiplex?  

This discussion has been going on since the advent of the VCR but the bottom line is that theatres are doing just fine. As long as they make movies that are far superior on a big screen with big sound (Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean as examples) the theatres will chug along. Movie profitability is far more complex than it was 25 years ago since it now includes overseas box office, domestic box office, PPV sales, DVD sales, pay TV sales ad network sales. But all these avenues provide a much larger audience then ever before. I see a greater danger to the video store than I do to theatres.

Perhaps, but I don't think it's that bad when Shrek the 3rd cost me and my wife $20 bucks to see and they have a full theatre... so, take $10 multiplied by the number of seats, by the numbers of shows... I think they're okay.

Anyways, there's a bigger trend I read about in last week's Entertainment Weekly. Comcast, the largest cable company in the U.S., is working with several production houses to try and have PPV-style movie ordering for films on the same day as their theatrical release. That could have a big effect on people; why go out when you can watch it at home for the same price and eat your own food/not deal with crowds, etc.

We'll have to see if that has an effect or not.

I'm here in The States.I don't think the DVD alone killed the multiplex.Bad films and high ticket prices helped. Long ago, there were so many films that I wanted to see that i would miss a few and I would have to wait a year for it to come to cable. Now, there are so few films that I want to see and if I don't get to see it in the theater, I can wait 3 months and it will be on DVD or On-Demand or on cable.Pretty soon there won't be any theaters for movies. The films will come out only on DVD.These days here you can get a huge screen t.v. with a great stereo sound. And you can place it in a big, quiet room in your home. You have a movie theater in your own home.Why spend the money to see a bad film in a theater when you could see a film you love in your own theater?