DVDs look absolutely awful, I’m not really sure why there is this lingering hope or expectation that they should stick around. As the article states at the end, newer forms of physical media are still selling at similar or improved rates:

Toward the bottom of its report, DEG notes that sales from physical 4K UHD catalog releases held steady since 2023, while spending on titles released with “premium steelbook packaging” grew in 2024. No specific percentages or dollar totals were included, but it leaves a small glimmer of hope for the holdouts who still champion physical media in an increasingly digital and subscription-based world.

I think there is also an element of inaccessibility when it comes to lower budget films. Local cinemas are often dominated by long runs of the big budget action films, which can make it difficult for audiences to watch anything else. Given how badly the cinema industry is struggling, it would be in their best interests to create space for a greater variety of films or organise special “one night only” screening events. My local cinema takes part in a lot of film festivals and also runs a classic film club and special re-screenings of older films - these events always seem to attract significantly larger crowds and bring in a lot of extra revenue for them.