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Have you noticed how small the DVD aisle has gotten? If you walk into a big box store like Walmart or Target, you’ve probably noticed that the DVD section is a fraction of what it was 15 or 20 years ago.

This should come as no surprise, as consumers have moved away from physical media, flocking to streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ for their movie needs. According to Warner Bros. Pictures co-chairs Mike De Luca and Pam Adby, the film industry hasn’t recovered from that loss.

“When we lost DVDs, when DVDs went away, we did lose a safety net, and streaming doesn’t quite make up that gap,” De Luca says during an appearance on the SmartLess podcast.

“We did,” Adby says, echoing De Luca’s comments.

“We are working without a net,” De Luca continues.

Looking at the numbers, Adby and De Luca aren’t kidding. In 2005 it was reported that Shrek 2 had brought in $458 million from DVD sales alone. To put that in perspective, that’s more than the entire box office run of the 2024 film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. In contrast, Wonka was one of the highest-selling DVDs in 2024, making $2 million in the United States.  

However, De Luca and Adby said the loss of the revenue stream that came from DVDs has pushed them to make better movies.

“I also think, as Pam said, that can be really exciting. I think for the consumer, it means that the bar for quality has to be high to get you to get out of the house and convert to being a ticket buyer,” De Luca says.

The rise of streaming services has killed DVD sales, and some have argued that it’s now killing theater attendance. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, box offices have been struggling to recover. However, De Luca and Adby don’t think streaming services are to blame – they just need to make more movies.  

“Coming out of the pandemic, everyone is cautious about, okay, is the box office down because the pandemic irrevocably altered the viewing habits or is the box office down because we’re making less movies. Pam and I feel like it’s because we’re making less movies. Some people feel human behavior may have been altered and the audience may never come back at the level they were pre-pandemic,” De Luca says.

“I think as everybody tries to figure out the answer to that, it’s a very fluid situation, working your slate back up to 10, 15, 20 movies a year – it’s going to be a slow cautious process. Everyone’s kind of feeling their way of what’s kind of causing the downturn. Is it the hangover from the pandemic or is it that we’re not making the same amount of movies,” De Luca continues.

Now would be a perfect time for Blu-rays to make a surprise comeback.

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