What are the most anticipated movies of the summer for Gen Z & Millennials? We asked 1000 13-34-year-olds to tell us what summer movies they are most excited to go see (and we’re already seeing their favorites win in the box office)…
In the age of Netflix, movie theaters are standing strong. Though some are still surprised when we tell them that young consumers are going to the movies, we continue to see evidence that they are as interested as ever in the big screen experience. When we asked Millennials and Gen Z what they regularly do in their free time, going to the movies made their top 15 list—with 51% of 13-17-year-olds and 35% of 18-34-year-olds saying they go to the movie theatre regularly for fun. It could be argued that they need these escapes into fantasy more than ever—and the box office is reflecting it. According to The Guardian, in 2016, both the U.S. and the U.K. box offices reached record levels, and with the record-breaking success of the latest slate of films, interest in going to the movies is on track to only get higher. The Hollywood Reporter notes that kids and their Millennial/Gen X parents are currently some of the most lucrative moviegoing groups: two-11-year-olds and 25-39-year-olds were the only two demographics who didn’t decline in 2015.
So who will benefit from these young consumers’ escapist desires during the coming months? As part of our recent survey looking at Millennial and Gen Z’s summer plans (and what they’re most excited for), we asked 1000 13-34-year-olds to tell us the summer movies they can’t wait to see. Here are the 15 that made the top of the ranking:
Guardians of the Galaxy is the big winner of summer movie anticipation, and if this weekend’s opening is any indication, young consumers are setting it up to be a record breaker. According to Mashable, “In the almost two weeks since it released on May 5, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 has already generated an estimated $246.2 million at the U.S. box office. Just for context: it took the first Guardians a month—including four full weekends—to reach a similar domestic total in Aug. 2014.” Clearly, Millennial and Gen Z excitement equals box office bank. The appeal of the original film is of course one of the biggest reasons for young consumers’ excitement for this sequel. As we said at the time, its deep-rooted nostalgia and light-hearted approach made it a superhero film that stood out to them. Meanwhile, Beauty and the Beast (also already in theaters) is in the number two spot of our most-anticipated summer movies, followed by Pirates of the Carribbean. When we look at the differences between genders among this overall age group, we see that males and females are equally excited about Guardians, but there are some other movies where the theaters might be dominated by one gender over another:
Females were far more likely to say they were excited to see Beauty and the Beast than males, while males are more likely to be excited about Spiderman and War for the Planet of the Apes. We also see some major differences in movie anticipation when we look at Millennials versus Gen Z:
Again, Guardians of the Galaxy is at the top in excitement among both groups, but Gen Z is more likely to be excited for Despicable Me 3, Cars 3, Transformers, Captain Underpants, and The Mummy, indicating that they are invested in the franchises that they grew up with. Most of these films are sequels, with the originals coming out when Gen Z was young, and, of course, Captain Underpants is a beloved book series that came around after Millennials’ time.
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