Young viewers fuel box office growth

Hollywood can breathe a sigh of relief: Generation Z isn’t just going to the movies, it’s driving box office growth.

During the pandemic, when theaters were closed and broadcast became a dominant force in the media landscape, there were fears that this small group would shun the big screen as they grew into more engaged consumers.

However, this generation, which ranges from 14 to 29 years old, is one of the largest moviegoing demographics and attends more movies per year than other older generations, according to data from Fandango.

By 2025, members of Gen Z will see an average of seven movies in theaters — similar to the average viewing among millennials — while members of Generation X and baby boomers will see about six movies on average, Fandango found.

“Gen Z is driving moviegoing trends today, and I think people are shocked,” said Jason Dorsey, president and founder of the Center for Generational Kinetics and co-author of “Zconomy.” “They’re like, ‘Oh, Gen Z doesn’t want to leave their house.’ That is not true. Gen Z really wants to get out of their house – maybe more than you know. “

Gen Z will hold nearly 40% of all movie audiences in North America by 2025, according to data from Comscore.

As teens and 20-somethings become the dominant generation at the box office, they’re also shaping the future of moviegoing — and studios and movie theaters are taking notice.

“Not only are we seeing larger and larger numbers of Gen Z make up our overall audience, but their frequency is increasing every year,” said Carrie Trotter, senior vice president of marketing at AMChe told CNBC. “So they are already one of the most important audiences for us, and I can see that in the future, it may be the most important audience for us.”

Helping strengthen Gen Z’s affinity for movies is the fact that it remains one of the most affordable forms of entertainment.

“Ticket prices have gone up, of course, but if you compare it to the annual inflation rate, it’s on par, if not lower,” said Steve Buck of EnTelligence, a movie production company. “If you think about Gen Z, they love spending, but they’re opening their wallets.”

Gen Zers grew up during the Covid era, which Dorsey called “a generation-defining experience.” This group has never known a time without social media or smartphones and is incredibly expensive, having grown up in a time of great uncertainty, he said.

“Covid killed all their plans,” Dorsey said. “They were going to school, they were going to college … everything turned upside down and stayed for a long time. So, we see them being very careful with their finances. I will say in general, like they are really holding on to their money in general, saving more than we would expect from someone of their age.”

This has led a large portion of Gen Z to choose theater loyalty programs, such as the AMC lineup, Regal Unlimited and Cinemark’s Movie Club, which reward them for spending or allow them to see more movies per month for a subscription fee.

“Gen Z references the top AMC A-List tier, and their participation has tripled since the pandemic began,” said Trotter, noting that AMC’s program allows customers to book tickets for other loyalty members who are part of a group of friends.

“We’re trying to make it as non-confrontational as possible to promote cinematography and a community atmosphere,” he said.

At Rutgers Cinema in Piscataway, New Jersey, general manager Alex DelVecchio keeps ticket prices low for students at nearby Rutgers University. Students who show a school ID pay just $5 for child screening and $9.50 for all other general admissions. That’s much cheaper than the national average of about $13.50, according to EntTelligence.

“We try to keep it as cheap as we can,” DelVecchio said.

But it’s not all about affordability. DelVecchio said he also runs promos like free slushies on Wednesdays and is looking for ways to engage his mostly college-bound customer.

In order to release Warner Bros.’ “It: Chapter One” in 2017, DelVecchio said that the company put an actor in every theater, sent red balloons all over the campus and allowed an employee to wear a yellow jacket and play with a paper boat outside to simulate scenes from the movie.

“We started selling everything,” he said. “Also, once you get the momentum you can keep it as long as you keep playing what they want.”

Although Gen Zers are selective about how they spend their money, they are keen to seek out experiences, especially social activities they can do with their friends that give them an excuse to unplug their phones.

“This is a way for them to come and spend time with their friends and family, and that social experience really goes beyond the actual movie they’re seeing,” Trotter said. “But there’s also a bit of FOMO [fear of missing out]like they want to be part of the excitement and their passion for that increases their desire to be the first to see these films and be part of the conversation as it happens.”

And while Gen Z is happy not to use their phones during a movie, they still use social media to share their thoughts on movies and see what others think about new and old titles.

Letterboxd, an online platform where moviegoers can track movies they’ve watched and post reviews, has already become so popular with this generation that Hollywood has alternately referred to Gen Z as the Letterboxd generation.

The site currently has more than 29 million users, with more than half of that base under the age of 35. With Letterboxd, Gen Z relies more on public reviews than official movie critics when choosing which movies to see in theaters.

Of course, Gen Z has some genre-specific preferences, and Hollywood seems to be playing to them.

Similar to their elders, this age group often flocks to movie theaters for horror films and R-rated fare. But they differ from previous generations in their interest in anime and video game adaptations based on the games they played growing up. Gen Zers have also shown a fondness for older, re-released titles, relying on the nostalgia of the movie going.

In 2025, “The Minecraft Movie,” based on the popular online game, was the most watched movie by Gen Z, according to data from EntTelligence. I Warner Bros. The film grossed over $424 million domestically during its theatrical run, the second-highest of the year, and grossed $960 million worldwide.

In the meantime Sony and Crunchyroll’s “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle” saw the largest percentage of Gen Z in its audience, with 42% of tickets sold to members of this generation.

So far in 2026, Universal’s “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is the most watched movie for Gen Z. It earned $425 million domestically, the highest-grossing film of the year so far, and $982 million worldwide.

Box office analysts expect films like this Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” Universal’s “Minions & Monsters,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and Marvel’s “Avengers: Doomsday” to see a significant portion of ticket sales to Gen Z audiences.

“I think theaters have a real opening right now to be a social experience for Gen Z,” Dorsey said. “It is still fragile, the generation still has problems, but there is a great opportunity for them to be able to build on it and to be able to create these beautiful things that they have seen firsthand and in a very inexpensive way.”

Disclosure: Versant is the parent company of Fandango and CNBC.