Cinema is being redefined by the same forces reshaping attention everywhere. And across the global and Asia-Pacific markets, the data tells a clear story: theatrical is not dying. Rather, it's adapting to a different cultural physics.

Global box office has recovered from $11.8B in 2020 to nearly $34B in 2023, with 2024 stabilizing in the low 30s. APAC continues to serve as the engine of this rebound: India delivered its second-strongest year ever; South Korea held steady with premium formats driving a meaningful share of box office; Japan sustained momentum through anime; and even in a volatile year, China produced unmistakable ignition moments.

The Problem: Attention Has Become the Real Competitor

Cinema isn't fighting streaming or AI. It's fighting an audience whose attention is constantly under siege. Short-form platforms shape taste long before a marketing plan can. AI lowers the cost of production to near-zero, accelerating the volume of content entering every feed. And cultural sequencing, once the domain of studios, collapses the moment the feed decides what matters.

Research across APAC and global markets captures the effect: 92% of moviegoers say they feel completely immersed when watching in a cinema, a level of attention that is nearly impossible to achieve on phones or at home. Neuroscience-based benchmarking shows cinema delivers a +21% boost in global memory and a +14% lift in detail memory compared to standard video norms, which serves as tangible proof that uninterrupted immersion translates into recall, not just passive viewing. And audience preference reinforces this: in a multi-country survey covering Asia-Pacific and global markets, only 5-6% of respondents said they prefer to wait for streaming when a film they care about arrives in theaters.

Meanwhile, the competition for cultural headspace intensifies. Cinema no longer competes against films alone - it competes against whatever is owning the feed that day: an anime trailer, a K-pop comeback, a creator trend, a looped action sequence. Momentum doesn't begin at release. It begins the moment fandom claims it.

The Solution: Build for Ignition and Elevate the Experience

Theatrical cannot outrun the feed but it can offer what the feed cannot. The advantage now lies in intention, immersion, and co-presence. The films that win are the ones that spark ignition inside fandom communities, not the ones that simply buy the broadest reach. Across APAC this is already clear: anime films in Japan and Korea, action franchises in India, and character-driven thrillers across Southeast Asia all take off because audiences decide they matter before paid marketing ever catches up.

To compete, theatrical must design around that reality. That means using real-time attention signals to understand where momentum is forming. It means treating premium formats not as an upsell, but as the core promise: this will be worth the trip. It means building rituals around moviegoing that amplify the social dimension, because 84% of moviegoers say shared reactions in the auditorium increase enjoyment... and no algorithm can replicate the emotional contagion of a live audience.

Curation becomes essential. In an economy of abundance, audiences trust filters more than formats.

Cinema Wins Even as Attention Is a Scarce Commodity

The forces shaping entertainment aren't slowing. Short-form will accelerate. AI will industrialize content creation. Discovery will fragment further. But cinema remains the one medium capable of converting attention into emotion and emotion into memory.

The industry's job now is not to protect theatrical from change, but to build around its strengths: ignition, immersion, ritual, and cultural resonance. The markets and players who do this will define the future of cinema. They're not competing with streaming or AI. They're competing with forgettability.

At AGM, we help studios, exhibitors, and distributors overcome the shifts and challenges in today's fragmented attention economy. If you want to understand how real-time audience signals, premium experiences, and ignition-driven strategy can lift your slate or your market, get in touch with us. We'd love to show you what's possible.