My thesis describes changes in cinema visits and film consumption over time. I am seeking to identify what factors have shaped our film consumption culture into its current form, what position cinemas occupy in it, and the prospects for the future. After a brief thematic and methodological introduction, the first longer chapter provides a detailed overview of the changes from World War 2 to the turn of the millennium. I examine data from three countries, addressing the levels of cinema visits in Hungary, France, and the United States. The next chapter focuses on the trends between 2000 to around 2020, analysing the emergence of the Internet, torrenting, and streaming, and their impact on film consumption. With the coronavirus outbreak of 2020 and the mandatory closures that the quarantine entailed, the film industry was gravely affected. Cinema-going was severely disrupted and media consumption patterns changed radically. In the third major block of my thesis I examine this period, supplementing the research with interviews with Hungarian film industry and film distribution professionals. In the interviews I try to uncover how exactly the coronavirus outbreak affected cinemas; whether attendance has since come close to, reached, or even exceeded pre-pandemic levels; and what strategies have been used to promote cinema in recent years. In the final part of the thesis I summarise the lessons learned from the research and answer the initial questions.