In 2002, nearly 1.6 billion movie theater tickets were sold. In 2024, that number dropped to 823 million — a nearly 50 percent decrease. The biggest culprit? Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
Now, downtown Las Vegas indie theater The Beverly is fighting back against those streamers.
On June 1, the venue launched a promotion — which goes until September 1 — called Stream Strike. It offers people who cancel or pause one or more approved streaming services free movie tickets in return.
The promotion started when Beverly CXO Kip Kelly became frustrated with developments involving one of his subscriptions. That frustration led to him canceling a number of his streaming services and instead spending time watching movies at the theater he runs. And then the idea hit him.
"What if everyone else had that excuse to take a pause from their streaming subscriptions?" Kelly said. "And if they're looking for a reason, maybe we can give them one."
The math is simple: If you visit The Beverly box office and bring proof of your, say, paused Netflix, which is $20 ad-free, and your canceled Disney Plus, which is $19 with no ads, you'll get 39 free movie tickets — that's one ticket per dollar per monthly charge.
The list of approved streamers is here. And here's a plot twist: AI services like ChatGPT are also included.
Netflix is the most-canceled-for-tickets streamer thus far, and The Beverly has given out about 2000 tickets. But, rather than be overwhelmed by all that free-ness, Kelly is enthused to see pushback against the "media barons and corporate capitalists" behind the streamers.
"As Vegas' only art house, it's important that we stand with both feet firmly planted on the ground for artists and for human achievement, and for an opportunity to have more curated human experiences," Kelly said. "If people are showing up and saying, 'I've got $200-worth of subscriptions that I want to get rid of for the summer, give me 200 tickets,' I am happy to do that."
Guest: Kip Kelly, CXO, The Beverly Theater
