Could Gen Z save moviegoing?
I spoke to film professors, theater operators and Gen Z experts about fascinating poll data that gives me hope for the movies.
I haven’t sent this newsletter since I started my job as a senior entertainment reporter at Yahoo, but I figured I’d use it to share my work. I’m not really a Gen Z reporter anymore — just fascinated with pop and youth culture. We’re all surfing the same world wide web. OK, let’s talk about the movies.
When young people turn out at the movie theater in droves, they make headlines for flinging popcorn and screaming. Accused of being antisocial homebodies, some theaters have tried to lure them off their couches and into their seats by letting them keep their tiny beacons of light and distraction out during phone-friendly screenings. Some say they’re willing to turn their hallowed halls into amusement parks with bowling lanes and roller-coaster-esque 4DX screenings, all to boost their offerings and keep the hallowed tradition of theatergoing alive in the digital age.
But as ticket prices rise and at-home streaming options proliferate, what if Gen Z is the movie theater industry’s greatest hope?
According to a Yahoo News/YouGov Survey conducted May 22-27, 2025, Americans surveyed say they prefer to wait to see a new movie when it’s available on streaming (61%) rather than seeing it in theaters (23%). But young adults under 30 are the age group most likely to head to the cinema, according to the poll. About half (49%) have seen a movie in a theater in the past six months, and 60% in the past year. And when a new movie comes out, respondents under 30 were the most likely to say they’d see it in theaters (31%) vs. waiting for it to become available on streaming (53%), compared to adults 30 and older.
So what’s enticing them to put their phones down, travel to the theater and give the big screen their attention for a few hours? 54% of Gen Z-ers surveyed said they want “an experience I can’t get at home.” More than half of poll respondents under 30 said an interesting plot (56%) and lower ticket cost (55%) could persuade them to get their butts in seats too.
‘The most coveted demographic’
Though assumptions about Gen Z’s affinity for phones and hatred of spending money might lead some people to believe that they might not love theatergoing, it’s actually an organic part of the young adult experience. George Huang, a filmmaker and professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, tells Yahoo it makes total sense that younger generations are more likely to go to the theater than their millennial, Gen X and boomer counterparts. They typically spend less time fretting about work, kids and taxes, Huang says. And Hollywood knows this.
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