London, Jan 23 (IANS): Veteran actor Gary Oldman sees a good thing in the rise of streaming sites. He feels they have taken a lot of pressure off film directors.

"With the streaming systems it takes a lot of pressure of the opening weekend because they don't have to open in the same way," said Oldman, whose new film "Mank" released on OTT a while back.

"Films are now dropped rather than released and two, three or four minutes counts as a view. It's a whole different thing," added the actor, reports contactmusic.com.

The future of cinemas seems to be threatened during the pandemic, and Gary admits that it would be a "very sad day" if they disappear.

"It will be a very sad day but I come from a different generation. What you don't really know, you don't miss. There are so many younger people coming up now when their whole viewing experience is on these little machines. It's the norm and it's okay for them as it's all they know," said the 62-year-old actor.*****