There is an article by Derek Thompson in the June 8 edition of The Atlantic regarding what he perceives as a very significant decrease in adult U.S. movie ticket sales in 2016. Thompson importantly makes the point that he is talking about actual tickets sold rather than revenue, which has seen gains due to increased ticket prices and cable offerings. The major premise of Thompson’s article is that “Hollywood has a huge millennial problem” because they are no longer interested in sequels. I agree that Hollywood has a big problem but in my opinion, that is not it. Up until this year, there has not been a significant decrease in ticket sales, and statistics for the last three years show it definitely is not millennials, as defined by most social scientists, that are to blame for any changes. If there is indeed a decrease in 2016 sales, it is due to one simple fact – the offerings have been atrocious.
A month ago China announced that movie watching is at an all time high. Other countries in both Eastern Asia and Latin America have had a steady increase in audiences over the past 5 years. So, yes, the problem does lie within North America.
First let us address Thompson’s theory. Are millennials abandoning movies? Or are they just abandoning theaters (i.e. not buying tickets) and viewing films at home as more and more is made available through the numerous streaming channels? I submit that the latter is truer. If Hollywood is making less money for this, it has no-one to blame but itself.
The 2015 Theatrical Market Statistics published by the MPAA ( (Motion Picture Association of America) provide the following insights:
▸ Frequent moviegoers who go to the cinema once a month or more continue to drive the movie industry, accounting for 49% of all tickets sold in the U.S./Canada (down from 51% in 2014).
▸ Total tickets sold in U.S./Canada increased 4% in 2015
▸ Average tickets sold per person increased 3% in 2015
▸ In 2015, 12-17 year olds had the highest per capita attendance (7.3) and largest increase in per capita attendance, up nearly one ticket per person from 2014. Per capita attendance also increased for 25-39 year olds and people 60 and older compared to the previous year.
That last one clearly defeats Thompson’s millennial premise. It is the people aged 40-60 that are not going to movies. Moreover 79% of total U.S. films released were from non-MPAA affiliated independents. Are they “Hollywood” in today’s terms? Further, Thompson states that his conclusion about 2016 is extrapolated from previous years’ sales progressions. Again as shown above, the opposite is true. Total tickets sold increased last year.
I submit that the problem facing the movie theater industry is the lack of quality, non-extravaganza or epic films. Where is the art of film? What happened to films that one had to think about and extrapolate the themes? Why is there such a dependence on Sci-Fi or Horror films as opposed to good Drama or Comedy? Check out the list of U.S. films released so far in 2016. How many have you heard of and more importantly how many did you see? A look at the 2016 foreign language films released in the U.S. does not help. I am confident in saying that a vast majority never made it to your city. Those that did got very little press and played for very short periods.
The U.S. movie viewing audience needs more exposure and education to higher quality films. They need a better understanding of what makes for a truly good movie. It is not purely its entertainment value. Why are foreign actors taking most of the top roles and annual awards? Why are foreign directors having such great success in America? The one category I have not mentioned above is English-speaking, foreign-made films. I am unable to find a composite list of such so I cannot comment on their place in this analysis. American studios boast of how much of their production is shipped overseas and is the largest part of their revenue. Yet they are not winning the top acting and film awards in those countries.
Maybe Thompson’s title should have just been: “Hollywood Has a Huge Movie-Making Problem.”
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