Gen-Z generation's interest in cinema after a long time

The global cinema industry has currently entered a remarkably exciting phase in terms of ticket sales, with analysts predicting that this year's total global box office revenue will reach $35 billion, showing a 7% growth compared to 2025. Although overall ticket sales are still somewhat lower than pre-COVID pandemic levels, five films have already grossed over $1 billion globally, and another three films have surpassed the $500 million mark.

It is expected that massive films like the upcoming "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Dune: Part Three" will further attract enormous audiences to cinemas.

The main force behind this cinematic revival is the young Generation Z (Gen Z). Previously, it was believed that the existence of cinemas would be threatened by Gen Z and Millennial generations preferring to stay home and watch Netflix, YouTube, or TikTok. However, according to a Fandango survey, nearly 90% of young Gen Z individuals in America visited cinemas in 2025. They went to cinemas an average of 7 times last year, which is higher than Generation X (6.1 times) and Baby Boomers (5.7 times). The film "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," released on July 31st, surpassed the record set by "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019 by grossing $360 million in its opening weekend in North America. Two-thirds of the audience during that opening weekend were between 18 and 34 years old, and the film has globally earned over $1.7 billion.

Young audiences are not only attracted to superhero films; there's also significant youth interest in films of various genres such as Sir Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," "The Drama," "Project Hail Mary," and "Wuthering Heights." The horror film "Obsession," directed by a 26-year-old, managed to earn $490 million at the global box office, generating more than 650 times its cost. This trend is not limited to Western countries; over half of India's Hindi box office revenue comes from young people under 30, and two-thirds of cinema-goers in Saudi Arabia are under 34. In Vietnam, this figure rises to 90%, and in Japan, the anime film "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle" recorded the best opening weekend revenue in the country's history, largely due to a massive influx of young audiences to cinemas.

Social media has been a powerful catalyst in promoting this youth inclination towards cinema, with nearly half of European youth discovering new films through TikTok. Examples of this include viral trends like the "GentleMinions" wave in 2022, where audiences wore suits to watch "Minions: The Rise of Gru," and audiences cheering and standing up during screenings of "A Minecraft Movie" in 2025. The number of users on Letterboxd, an app for logging films and sharing reviews, has grown to 30 million, with the most active users being young people aged 18-24. According to cinema data analyst Stephen Follows, the culture surrounding cinema has once again become a youth culture.

Generation Z views cinema as a special social event to experience with friends, and they make their cinema-going evenings even more special by opting for dinner or drinks. They are inclined to spend more money on special popcorn buckets and comfortable reclining seats. Revenue per attendee at AMC, an American cinema chain, increased by 44% in Q2 2026 compared to the same quarter in 2019 (11% when adjusted for inflation). Escaping the constant scrolling on small mobile phone screens, today's youth show a strong desire to experience the analog pleasure of being "kidnapped by the film" while seated among strangers in a dark cinema, as once described by American writer Susan Sontag.

(Source: The Economist)