Millennial Movies

By Nick Ryor

Millennials are very important to the industries that run America. This generation is progressing in technology, business, and entertainment industries. For example, the taxi industry changed drastically when services like Uber and Lyft entered the game and took over with better prices and convenience with an opportunity for young people to make money. Specifically, millennials have a major influence on the movie industry by purchasing the most movie theater tickets and being the most popular users on Netflix.

The way most people watch movies in the 21st century is changing entirely. At first, there was Blockbuster, the library, the movie theaters, and DVD’s. After Blockbuster, there was Redbox. After Redbox started to decline, there was the uprising of Netflix. One could speculate that this trend would eventually lead to the downfall of the movie theater. Not only is the way we watch movies changing, but movie theater ticket prices have also skyrocketed and are now at their highest price of all time. This skyrocketing is a result of people losing general interest in movies.

Movie production has gone way up as well, so one would presume that theaters would not last. Statistics would prove otherwise. The statistics show millennials greatly affect the movie industry, with studies showing that 53% of movie ticket purchases are bought by millennials. The movie industry specifically targets millennials and they have done so successfully. Another study shows that per year, the average millennial will go to see 6 movies in the theater. 47% of movie tickets purchased by millennials are bought on opening weekend. This could be a reflection of the fact that young people like to go to events and the latest thing. Young people love group settings and doing things with friends. An opening night screening in a movie theater is a great atmosphere for millennials.

The reason that millennials see so many movies in the theater could also be a reflection of how many commercials millennials see or the amount of television they watch. The most popular films watched by millennials are horror films (like M. Night Shamylan’s Split), urban movies (such as Straight Outta Compton), young adult comedies (like Sausage Party), and huge budget films (such as the Marvel comic book series).

Sequels thrive with the young crowd, probably due to the fact that the original versions of these “sequels” were childhood movies for millennials. Movies like Star Wars, Disney movies, superhero movies, and urban movies like the Friday series, were films that shaped the movie perspective for millennials. The highest grossing films of 2015 and 2016 were both Star Wars movies. The millennials indeed are the primary influence behind these statistics. The previous generations might say that the kids have ruined the film industry and polluted entertainment in general. This is entirely false. The older generation should humble themselves and realize that the millennials are what is keeping the industry alive. If it were not for them, there would be no industry. There is a reason that they are the main targets for directors and producers. Millennials have saved the movie industry and continue to shape it.