THE ECONOMIST: Gen Z has discovered the joy of going to the movies as box office
THE ECONOMIST: Cinema attendance numbers are being boosted by Gen Z’s use of streaming and social media.
It has been an action-packed year on cinema screens — and at the ticket counter. Five films have already grossed more than $US1 billion at the global box office; three more have exceeded $US500m. Forthcoming blockbusters such as Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three promise epic showdowns; crowds are sure to show up to cinemas to watch the battles unfold. Although overall ticket sales are still down from pre-COVID levels, analysts predict that the global box office will take $US35b this year, up 7 per cent from 2025.
Indeed, the picture house seems to be enjoying something of a revival, thanks in part to the younger generations. Many feared that Gen Z and millennials would hasten cinema’s decline, preferring to stay at home and binge on Netflix, YouTube or TikTok. But in America nearly 90 per cent of Gen Z went to the cinema in 2025, more than any other generation, according to a survey by Fandango, a ticketing website. They went seven times on average last year, compared with 6.1 times for Gen X and 5.7 for baby-boomers.
Young cinema-goers are propelling films to success. Spider-Man: Brand New Day released on July 30, set an opening-weekend record in North America, taking $US360m to edge past Avengers: Endgame (2019), another superhero flick and the previous record holder. Almost two-thirds of its opening-weekend audience were 18- to 34-year-olds. The film has now made more than $US1.7b at cinemas worldwide.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.It is not just superheroes that get youngsters super excited. Many made a pilgrimage to see Sir Christopher Nolan’s retelling of The Odyssey. Recent films such as The Drama (a dark romantic comedy), Project Hail Mary (a sci-fi yarn) and Wuthering Heights (a racy adaptation of a Victorian novel) have seen a similar skew. Gen Z’s fixation on Obsession, a horror film made by a 26-year-old, propelled it to $US490m at the global box office—more than 650 times its budget.
The trend isn’t confined to the West, either. Under-30s make up more than half of the Hindi box office in India, according to Ormax Media, a consultancy. In Saudi Arabia two-thirds of cinema-goers are under 34; in Vietnam as many as 90 per cent are. Last summer young Japanese flocked to Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, an anime blockbuster, helping give it the best opening weekend in the country’s history.
What explains this surge? Partly, cinema is being boosted by the technology some thought might kill it: social media. Online communities generate buzz — nearly half of European youngsters say they discover new films on TikTok. Viral trends coalesce around certain titles. For instance, Minions: The Rise Of Gru in 2022, attracted hordes of young men in suits, who called themselves GentleMinions. During screenings of the Minecraft Movie last year, people screamed, cheered and threw popcorn at one particular scene, joining in on an online trend.
Social media also creates fear of missing out. Letterboxd, an app which lets users log which films they’ve seen and share reviews, now has 30 million users worldwide, almost three times the number in 2023, and its most active users are aged between 18 and 24. “The culture around films has become a youth culture again,” says Stephen Follows, a film-data analyst.
Gen Z has embraced the cinema as a place for shared experiences. Many organise group outings with friends, adding on dinner or drinks to make a special evening of it. Treating a cinema trip as an “event” in itself means they are spending more on add-ons such as novelty popcorn buckets and reclining seats.
This is a boon for cinemas. At AMC, an American cinema chain, revenue per cinema-goer was 44 per cent higher in the second quarter of 2026 than in the same quarter of 2019 (almost 11 per cent higher, after adjusting for inflation).
A generation that revels in nostalgia is embracing an analogue pleasure. For many, the big screen offers a reprieve from endlessly scrolling the little one. Writer Susan Sontag once described the thrills of being “kidnapped by the movie” and, “To be kidnapped, you have to be in a movie theatre, seated in the dark among anonymous strangers”.
Young people, it turns out, are eager to go along for the ride.
Originally published as Gen Z has rediscovered the joy of going to the movies
