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It may be time for studios and theaters to worry a little less about attracting young people to the movies, and a little more about appealing to people with some gray in their hair. Among those who saw at least one movie over the course of the year, overall attendance to new releases fell slightly to 6.8 movies per person in 2012 vs. 6.9 in 2011, according to the latest American Moviegoing report out today from Nielsen’s National Research Group. But the composition of the audience saw a notable change: People between ages 25 and 54 accounted for 52% of the sales, down from 56% in 2011, and 57% in 2010. By contrast, young audiences (between 12 and 24) represented 30% of last year’s sales, up from 29% in 2011 and 27% in 2010. Older moviegoers (from 55 to 74) bought 18% of the tickets, up from 15% in each of the two previous years. The report also confirmed a trend that the MPAA noted in 2011: the growing enthusiasm for movies among Hispanics. They accounted for 25% of all movies seen, even though they represent 18% of the moviegoing population. They also were the only group that saw more movies in 2012 (9.5 per person on average) than in 2011 (8.5). The data come from online, phone and in-person surveys in August and September of more than 3,000 people who attended at least one movie in the previous 12 months.
Theaters Gradually Losing Middle-Aged Movie-Goers: Nielsen
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The oldsters ain’t coming back. They are old enough to afford high-end systems in their house and watching a movie (generally) is more pleasurable there than at a theatre. And cheaper. And they don’t care about the social side of moviegoing as opposed to young people. The stuff the over 40 crowd likes is on HBO, et al, anyway.
“Old enough” doesn’t bring manifest wealth. Often it brings a subsistence existence on Social Security checks, loss of independence, and loneliness.
Not at all again
That’s because we’re there to watch the movie. We’re not there to be annoyed by wet behind the ears, I rule the world, self entitled, douchey, 20 somethings.
@Hanna, you put it perfectly! I would like to see more movies on the big screen, but those annoying d-bags who can’t go five minutes without lighting up the isle with their stupid cell phones make it so it isn’t worth the money or aggravation.
Must be quite a cellphone if it can light up a small island…
I am in the demographic discussed in this article. Pay attention Hollywood:
Perhaps if the theaters paid attention to patrons that look at their phones or even talk on their phones while the movie was in place, more older people would go. No one does that when I’m watching an On Demand movie in my house.
Perhaps if Hollywood didn’t inflate the already bloated movie with 25 minutes of trailers, more older people would go.
There is no reason for it to take three hours to see a movie. Edit your movies (e.g., This Is 40 was 2:14–about 40 minutes too long and those 40 minutes made a good movie a mediocre one). Show one or two trailers, not six or seven. Don’t show commercials.
We want the movie to be part of our evening (dinner AND a movie), not the entire evening.
Yes, yes and yes.
For eleven months of the year, everything in theaters is geared toward teenage boys. All the grown-up films get released in a bottleneck before Oscar nominations. I’d probably see two or three times as many movies if there were something for my demographic in any given month.
There is only one month with adult films – Dec- the 11 other months are for 5 year olds. Unless your talking indies , then you do get some variety.
Stop the commercials- enough already , nobody watches them anyway. Stop showing trailers for movies that nobody is ever going to see- just release them to video already .And how about hiring actual writers to write some films .Pixar has better written films than most movies.
Clearly you didn’t see Brave and Cars 1 & 2.
The movies are generally not good enough to warrant the price of admission. I enjoy going to the movies but when I do, I enjoy fewer and fewer of them. I agree, too, that the movies are bloated and over-long – especially the “Tent Pole” releases.
If all the actors on the screen and all the patrons in the theater are 14 years old, that’s what happens. Make some good R-rated movies and don’t cater to the not-old-enough-to-drive crowd.
I’m 38 going on 75, and it’s a miserable experience going to theaters where people keep checking their phones in the middle of the movie. Until the theaters crack down on that behavior, I’ll do my best to just stay home.
I feel like there’s no new ideas in films today. If you’re my age and a true cineophile, then you’ve either seen some of the best films when they played in the theatres or at least have gotten to see them on DVD.
Just about everything that comes out today — and this goes for indie and foreign films too — seems like the same old same old. Today’s comedies aren’t funny, horror movies aren’t scary, and suspense thrillers are neither suspenseful nor thrilling. It it no wonder that even films starring Oscar winners like Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman and Mel Gibson are going straight to dvd these days. STDVD used to be the place where you sent the 4th or 5th-Gen ripoff of Die Hard. Now, everything is a ripoff of something better that came before.
Young kids of course, don’t realize this, so they’ll keep going…. …and of course, keep watching Youtube on their phones during the entire movie.
Well, frikkin’ DUH. You release movies aimed at teenagers and fanboys and then you’re shocked, shocked that adults don’t show up.
As a 50-something gay male long in love with the movies, I have learned to find a seat before the commercials and coming attractions start, in the front section away from most other attendees, put my belongings on the seat, then read the NY Times in the lobby.
I won’t endure twenty minutes of excessively loud explosions and irritating rapid edit trailers. Several of my friends say the trailers, their volume and editing with images onscreen for barely a second or two, are the same reasons they go to fewer films in the multiplexes.
Tip for Hollywood movie-makers and theatre-owners: Program trailer-free Mondays or Tuesdays or matinees and watch some of your older demographic return more often.
I have come to the conclusion that there are, for me, two kinds of films,movies that require big screen ,big sound viewing like Lincoln or Les Miserables and then there are the indie/art house movies ,which you can watch at home. And yes there are those commercials for T.V.programs that really are annoying at movie theaters.The movie experience has changed.
I’m 38 and can’t be bothered with the cinema anymore. I used to go once a week at least. Now it’s too expensive, too damn loud (honestly, when I watched Looper, I had to stuff tissue in my ears), full of morons with cell phone separation anxiety. The list goes on. I’d rather watch movies in the comfort of home now. Much more enjoyable.
I agree with most of the sentiments here (being an avid 33 year old movie watcher myself) but I’m gong to play Devil’s Advocate here for a second regarding the commercials. Thanks to technology consumers have gotten much more savvy through skipping through the ads. We can skip right over them through our DVR, we can install ad blockers on our web browser of choice, and we can view most of our print media online in digital format versus print format. So as a result the media conglomerates have had to look for new ways to reach consumers hence movie theatres. Ad and marketing agencies still need to make money and have to answer to their clients needs to make sure their products are seen. I think it sucks, but it is what it is.
As an over-the-hill 40-year old, I stopped going to the theaters for years. Here are the reasons why:
1. people having conversations during the movie. Whether speaking loudly or whispering, it’s very distracting.
2. texting and using the phone in general.
3. people munching, smacking, crunching loudly while eating their popcorn and snacks. No one wants to hear you eat with your mouth open.
4. commercials that run forever, before the trailers.
5. waiting in line and dealing with people saving seats for others.
6. crying babies and loud toddlers.
7. movies that approach two hours or longer. snooze.
My solution? A nice, gigantic HD TV, along with a home theater sound system. Blu-rays for about $1.50 at Redbox. Pause the movie whenever I want. Put up subtitles to understand actors who mumble. I have to wait 3-6 months before the “in crowd” sees the movies, but I still get an endless stream of movies when they do come out, only 3-6 months later. Life is great!!
Why arrange for childcare, schlepp out to meet some inconvenient showtime, parking hassles, sit in a theater with tweeters, chair bumpers, and crappy food, when you can download a title and watch it at home on the wide screen or in bed on an iPad? If they had theaters like the one on the Paramount lot, but run like private clubs, with real food, valet parking, etc., then maybe I’d go out to the theater again for pleasure.
And yet theaters want to introduce texting to some theaters. All idiots!
Us Grays are more prudent with out money now than the kids are. We scoff at ticket prices for meh movies while the kids look at it as a social moment.
If prices dropped and better movies were put out it would work in the Cinema’s favor.
It’s been years since either my girlfriend or I have gone to the movies.
We prefer to see movies on DVD.
It costs less (since we often borrow feature film DVD’s from our local library), and we can see them whenever we want. We don’t have to wait for a specific screening time.
Cell phones, cell phones, cell phones. I’m 34 and hate going to the movies. I’d go frequently if there were a strict policy against texting/looking at cell phone screens, and ushers who consistently enforced the policy. Might be a bit of drama at first but people would get the idea real quick.
I don’t understand how the industry hasn’t caught on to this. Most of the comments above are expressing the same thing.
I understand where you’re coming from, but one thing that’s probably not an option is ushers enforcing security. I mean really, you’re gonna ask a 16-year-old making minimum-wage to go face to face with the two or three dozen texters who are at every screening? These people all feel a sense of entitlement to begin with — when someone challenges them on it, there’ll be more than just “a bit of drama” and it won’t go away anytime soon.
We see movies once a year, between Christmas and early February, and only the movies likely to be nominated for an Oscar, or that have been. We go late on Friday mornings to catch the first showing of the day at matinee prices. The timing avoids alot of the more obnoxious moviegoers. Those we share the theater with are usually over 40 and they’re there is see the movie. There are two dozen people in the theater at most.
While most movies are just easier and more enjoyable to watch at home these days, there are some that need the big screen treatment. Apart from the Oscar contenders, with their big name stars and wide vistas, we skip the rest of movie offerings for the year. There are still plenty of selections on our Netflix queue though. I don’t mind watching crap at that price. The software has gotten so good at knowing how I’ll rate a movie, most of them are pre-rated between ‘meh’ and ‘yeah, it was okay’.
P.S. We never watch the Oscars. We don’t care about the awards.
This feels like 1950 all over again. The doom-sayers come out for a shout every few years. And the comments are always the same sad diatribes, usually from that 35-45 crowd who have recently become couc-potatoes.
I’m 78, and here I go again, saying what I’ve been saying for at least 60 years: “X% of the population wants to get out of the house X% of the time.”
I’m buying another 100 shares of Regal today, thank you very much.