Young viewers boost box office growth

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

During the pandemic, when movie theaters closed their doors and streaming became a dominant force in the media landscape, fears grew that this younger cohort would avoid the big screen as they became more engaged consumers.

However, this generation, which ranges in age from 14 to 29, is one of the most active movie-going demographics and goes to more movies per year than some older generations, according to Fandango data.

In 2025, Gen Zers saw an average of seven movies in theaters, matching the average millennial audience, while Gen Xers and baby boomers saw about six movies on average, Fandango found.

“Generation Z is driving the movie-going trends today, and I think people are shocked,” said Jason Dorsey, president and co-founder of the Center for Generational Kinetics and co-author of “Zconomy.” “They say, ‘Oh, Gen Z doesn’t want to leave their house.’ This is not true. Gen Z absolutely wants to leave their homes – probably more than you think. »

Generation Z accounted for nearly 40% of all movie audiences in North America in 2025, according to Comscore data.

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

“Not only are we seeing a larger and larger percentage of Gen Z make up our overall audience, but their frequency is increasing year over year,” Carrie Trotter, senior vice president of marketing at AMCtold CNBC. “So they have become one of the most important audiences for us, and I think in the future it may become the most important audience for us.”

The fact that it remains one of the cheapest forms of entertainment helps fuel Gen Z’s affinity for cinema.

“Ticket prices have gone up, as they have, but when you compare it to the year-over-year inflation rate, it’s comparable, if not lower,” said Steve Buck of EntTelligence, a movie data company. “When you think about Gen Z, they are cost conscious, but they are opening their wallets.”

Gen Z came of age during the Covid era, which Dorsey called a “generation-defining experience.” This cohort knows no time without social media or smartphones and is incredibly cost-conscious, having grown up in a time of great uncertainty, he said.

“Covid wiped out all their plans,” Dorsey said. “They were going to school, going to college… everything was turned upside down and it lasted for a long period of time. So we see them a lot more financially conscious. I say that in a general way, like they’re really conservative with their money in general, a lot more frugal than you would expect for someone their age.”

This has led a significant portion of Gen Z to opt for movie theater loyalty programs, like AMC’s A-list, Regal Unlimited and Cinemark’s Movie Club, which reward them for money spent or allow them to see multiple movies per month for a subscription.

“Gen Z over-indexes on the AMC A-List level, and their participation has tripled since the pandemic,” Trotter said, noting that AMC’s program also allows customers to reserve tickets for other loyal members who are part of their friend group.

“We try to make things as smooth as possible to encourage movies and that social atmosphere as much as possible,” she said.

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

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

But it’s not just about affordability. DelVecchio said he also runs promotions like free slushes on Wednesdays and looks for ways to engage his mostly college-aged consumer.

For Warner Bros.’ release “It: Chapter One” in 2017, DelVecchio said the company installed a clown in each theater, displayed red balloons throughout campus and had a staff member wear a yellow jacket and play with a paper boat outside to imitate iconic scenes from the film.

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

Although Gen Zers are selective about their spending, they are willing to spend money on experiences, including social activities they can do with their friends and that give them an excuse to disconnect from their phones.

“It’s a way for them to come and spend time with their friends and family, and that social experience really outweighs the movie itself that they’re seeing,” Trotter said. “But there’s also a bit of FOMO [fear of missing out]as if they want to be part of the excitement and their fandom fuels their desire to be the first to see these films and take part in the conversation as they unfold.

And even though Gen Z likes to stay away from their phones during the 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 the films they’ve watched and post reviews, has become so ubiquitous with this generation that Hollywood has come to refer to Generation Z interchangeably as the Letterboxd generation.

The site currently has more than 29 million users, more than half of whom are under 35 years old. Thanks to Letterboxd, Gen Z relies more on community reviews than official film critics to choose which films to see in theaters.

Of course, Gen Z has gender-specific preferences, and Hollywood seems to be playing into that.

Similar to their elders, this age group often flocks to movie theaters to watch 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 Z has also shown a penchant for older, re-released titles, drawing on movie nostalgia.

In 2025, “A Minecraft Movie,” based on the popular online game, was the most-watched movie among Generation Z, according to data from EntTelligence. THE Warner Bros. The film grossed over $424 million domestically during its theatrical release, the second-highest take 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 those members of the generation.

So far in 2026, Universal “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is the most-watched film among Gen Z. It raked in $425 million domestically, the highest-grossing film of the year so far, and $982 million globally.

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

“I think theaters have a real opening right now to provide that in-person social experience for Gen Z,” Dorsey said. “It’s still fragile, the generation is still fickle, but there’s a huge opportunity for them to be able to build on the fact that they can create these wonderful experiences in person and in a more affordable way.”

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