Μake us preferred on Google It has been a strong year for the movie industry and its revenues. Five films have already generated more than $1 billion at the global box office, while another three have surpassed $500 million.
Upcoming blockbusters such as “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune: Part Three” are expected to draw large audiences to theaters for what promise to be major cinematic events.
Although overall ticket sales remain below pre-COVID levels, the Economist says analysts expect the global box office to reach $35 billion this year, up 7% from 2025.
Theaters appear to be experiencing something of a revival, and younger generations are playing a significant role.
Many had feared that Gen Z and millennials would accelerate cinema’s decline by staying home and binge-watching Netflix, YouTube or TikTok. But in the United States, nearly 90% of Gen Z went to a movie theater in 2025, more than any other generation, according to Fandango, a ticketing website.
They went an average of seven times during the year, compared with 6.1 times for Gen X and 5.7 times for baby boomers.
Young audiences are making a difference
Young moviegoers are also proving to be a powerful demographic.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” released July 31, broke the North American record for the highest-grossing opening weekend, taking $360 million and narrowly surpassing “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), the previous record holder.
Nearly two-thirds of its opening-weekend audience was between the ages of 18 and 34. The film has now generated more than $1.6 billion at theaters worldwide.
Superhero movies are not the only films attracting younger audiences. Many young viewers also flocked to Christopher Nolan’s cinematic “Odyssey.”
Recent films including “The Drama,” a dark romantic comedy; “Project Hail Mary,” a science-fiction story; and “Wuthering Heights,” a bold adaptation of a Victorian novel, have shown similar trends.
Gen Z’s enthusiasm for “Obsession,” a horror film directed by a 26-year-old, helped propel it to $490 million at the global box office—more than 650 times its budget.
The trend is not limited to the West.
People under 30 account for more than half of cinema revenues in India, according to Ormax Media, a consulting company.
In Saudi Arabia, two-thirds of moviegoers are under 34. In Vietnam, the figure reaches as high as 90%.
Last summer, young Japanese audiences flocked to “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle,” an anime blockbuster that contributed to the film achieving the biggest opening weekend in the country’s history.
Social media is helping bring audiences back
Part of the explanation for the surge lies in the same technology that some once believed could kill cinema: social media.
Online communities generate buzz around films, with nearly half of young Europeans saying they discover new movies on TikTok.
Viral trends can build around particular titles. In 2022, young men wearing suits flocked to screenings of “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” for example. Videos showing audiences screaming and jumping from their seats during screenings of “A Minecraft Movie” in 2025 also helped fuel attention around the film.
Social media also creates a sense of FOMO—the “fear of missing out.”
Letterboxd, an app that allows users to record the movies they have watched and share reviews, has surged in popularity. It now has 30 million users worldwide, nearly three times as many as in 2023, with its most active users between the ages of 18 and 24.
“Movie culture has become youth culture again,” said Stephen Follows, a film data analyst.
The theater as a shared experience
Gen Z has embraced movie theaters as places for shared experiences. Many organize group outings with friends, adding dinner or drinks to make the evening feel special.
Treating a trip to the movies as an event in itself also means audiences are spending more on extras, including popcorn and reclining seats—something that benefits theater operators.
At AMC, a U.S. movie theater chain, revenue per moviegoer was 44% higher in the second quarter of 2026 than during the same quarter of 2019. After adjusting for inflation, the increase was nearly 11%.
For a generation drawn to nostalgia, the movie theater also offers an analog experience. For many young people, the big screen provides a break from the phone screen and endless, unsatisfying scrolling.
American intellectual Susan Sontag once wrote about the thrill of being “kidnapped by the movie” and argued that, to be kidnapped, “you have to be in a movie theater, sitting in the dark among anonymous strangers.”
