New Study Finds That Moviegoers Want More Varied Genres

A survey by the Global Cinema Foundation found that while many people would love to go to the movies, they feel underserved of the films they actually want to watch more of… so they choose streaming or other forms of entertainment instead.

The Big Picture: Recent data shows that while most sectors of mass entertainment have recovered, filmgoing is still falling short of pre-COVID levels and has a steep hill to climb in order to recover the revenue and admissions it once had. If studios diversify (and increase) their output, they may woo back the audiences still on the couch… and turn them into more frequent customers.

Behind the Scenes: Global Cinema Foundation surveyed 68,000 respondents across different age groups in 15 different markets around the world.

They found that:

• 72% agree that seeing a movie in theaters is a good value for the money… so the exhibition industry can breathe a sigh of relief.
• But 55% want more action/adventure movies, 51% want more comedy movies, and 46% want more suspense/thriller movies — a top three that were consistent across all age groups (although 46% of the over-60 crowd also want more dramas).
• Counterpoint: audiences across all age groups weren’t exactly on the hunt for more musicals, documentaries, or concert films (so maybe pour some cold water on future AMC/Taylor Swift-style experiments).

Closing Credits: Making more of the movies that people want to see is big business — 64% of respondents said that if there’s a movie they want to see in theaters, there’s nothing stopping them from going. They want to go. Only 6% of respondents said they prefer to wait for the movie to hit streaming.

And here’s another data point that can hopefully make 2025 a banner year post-pandemic: 68% of respondents (including 83% under 34) are excited by this year’s slate of theatrical movies. Let’s see if people put their money where their mouth is.