By Futurist Thomas Frey
When the Dream Factory Becomes Obsolete
Hollywood is shrinking because it’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist anymore: creating expensive entertainment for passive mass audiences gathered in specific locations at scheduled times. That entire model—theatrical releases, appointment viewing, centralized production—is dying because technology democratized creation, distribution fragmented audiences into infinite niches, and people’s attention shifted from consuming professional content to creating and sharing their own.
Movie theaters are already dead—they just don’t know it yet. COVID accelerated what was inevitable. By 2035, theatrical exhibition will be a niche experience like opera or live theater—something a small percentage does occasionally, not a mass entertainment medium. The opportunities aren’t in saving Hollywood. They’re in understanding what’s replacing it and building businesses serving the new attention economy.
Continue reading… “The Collapse of Hollywood and the Explosion of Everything Else: Where Attention (and Money) Is Actually Going”