In the runup to this weekend’s Academy Awards broadcast, the Pew Research Center released the results of a recent survey it conducted on the moviegoing habits of the adults in the United States. One topline finding from the survey is that 53% of U.S. adults reported that they have gone to the movies at least one time over the previous 12 months. The survey was conducted last summer, so the period these results reflect was from the summer of 2024 to the summer of 2025.
While this could be interpreted as a concerning decline in moviegoing, certain key demographics and age groups report more frequent trips to the cinema, offering some potential good news for the future of moviegoing in America.
The group with the sharpest decline was adults 65 years old and older, with only 39% reporting that they had gone to the movies in the previous 12 months. However, 67% of 18–29-year-olds went to the movies once or more in the prior year. Income was also a significant factor, with 64% of upper income Americans going to the theatre in the period compared to 43% of lower income Americans.
Exhibitors should take note of the profile of their most frequent customers as well as the factors keeping other potential customers away.
