Hollywood ground to a halt and theaters closed. Studio pipeline trickled and their streaming services smiled. 
The slumbering drive-ins heard the cries of movie buffs with cabin fever. So they turned to classics and indie filmmakers. 
A new version of the game was on with new players. Streaming services come to count on the best movies. 

As the theaters come to life, drive-ins feared their relevancy. Studios had the same question. Will audiences return to the theater.
 

The studio solution was obvious -- they hedge their bet by not taking sides. A strategy that ultimately slowed theater recovery. 
 

There is a million dollar question that is still unanswered. Will things return to normal? No. Then wat will it look like?
With more hungry people gnashing at the pizza pie. Those 8 slices will only so far. I think a new normal will be a better fit. 
Of course, that leaves some to wonder what the future holds. Do we keep the new hybrid model or add a window?

The theatrical window held strong but the home video window died with DVD. And with, the perceived value of films fell. 

Here is the article that got me to thinking. What are your thoughts?

https://ew.com/movies/summer-2021-box-office-postmortem-analysis-fall-preview/