In 2024, theater attendance at cinemas run by AMC Theatres added up to approximately 225 million, down from around 240 million one year before. Furthermore, AMC Theatres' revenue for 2024 amounted to 4.64 billion U.S. dollars, with 2.56 billion dollars generated from box office admissions.

Throughout 2023, movie theaters in the United States and Canada managed to sell around 831 million tickets, which is a bit more than the 2022 figure of about 700 million tickets and a significant increase compared to the 2021 total of 444 million tickets. However, despite the growth, the 2023 figure still falls short of the nearly 1.23 billion movie tickets sold in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. Cinema's slow recovery after the coronavirus The pandemic also impacted on cinemas' finances. The revenue at the so-called North American box office – consisting of Canada and The U.S. – stood just below nine billion dollars in 2023. That value remained well under the figure recorded in 2019. The box office revenue in Canada alone struggled even more, adding up to 600 million Canadian dollars in 2023, barely more than half the value reported four years earlier. Newer audiences and how to attract them The coronavirus outbreak has not changed the fact that teenagers watched the highest number of movies per year in the U.S. The 12-17 age group watched, on average, 2.5 feature films at a movie theater in 2021, or five times more than moviegoers aged 60 and above. According to a mid-2021 survey, variety in titles is what most motivated GenZers to attend movie theaters. This suggests that diversity may still be the spice of life – at least on the big screen.

In 2023, 14 percent of American GenZers reported an increased movie theater attendance post-pandemic, while 27 percent were less interested in watching movies in theaters. On the other hand, Millennials and GenXers, with 18 and ten percent respectively, went more frequently to the cinema compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The source estimated that movie theaters across the globe would have sold 5.7 billion tickets by the end of 2022, up 73 percent from the previous year. Despite the increase and the continuous growth forecast for the following years, the annual figure was projected to catch up with pre-pandemic standards only by 2026 – when it will amount to 7.7 million movie tickets, the same number recorded in 2017. The same source forecast that the global box office revenue will grow by 22 percent in 2023.

In 1970, movie theater attendance in the Soviet Union was more than five times higher than attendance rates in the United States, before this difference gradually dropped in the following two decades. In 1980, there were over one billion cinema tickets sold in the U.S., compared to 4.3 billion in the USSR. Cinema in the Cold War During the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet Union used cinema as an effective tool for propaganda, both domestically and internationally. The U.S. film industry was already much more advanced than that of the Soviet Union, which did not start to create large numbers of films until the 1960s. The rise in popularity of spy thrillers was reflective of the political climate, censorship laws prevented criticism or any potential negative light being cast upon the respective governments, and war films tapped into the patriotic side of the audience. Stalin himself was heavily involved in the censorship and direction of the Soviet film industry until his death in 1953, from which point censorship gradually became more relaxed. While Hollywood was the global leader in film production during the Cold War, the embargo of American films in the East Bloc allowed creators there to replicate popular films from Hollywood, and new genres such as the "Eastern" or "Red Western" (the east's version of cowboy or western films) emerged. Attendance differences The main factor that contributed to the difference in theater attendance were the fact that the Soviet Union had upwards of ten times the number of movie theaters than the U.S. in the 1970s, while television and VCR ownership was much higher in the U.S. and provided a greater variety of entertainment. Additionally, the later development of the film industry in the USSR meant that this was still a comparatively "new" pastime in the Soviet Union, whereas going to the cinema was less of a novelty in the U.S.. In 1986, Soviet citizens went to the cinema, on average, 13 to 14 times per year, in comparison, U.S. citizens went between four and five times per year.

In 2023, more than half of respondents stated that their moviegoing frequency is about the same as pre-pandemic. Meanwhile, 37 percent stated that they now go less to the cinema compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This graph depicts the total attendance at motion pictures in movie theatres in the United States from 1999 to 2013. In 2003, 1.52 billion people attended a motion picture in a movie theatre.

According to a recent survey, 44 percent of GenZers reported going to the movies one to two times in the past month. The shares for millennials and GenXers were 29 and 27 percent, respectively. However, only 18 percent of baby boomers mentioned visiting the movie theater one or two times in the past month. It is worth noting that a significant number of respondents across all generations did not visit a movie theater in the last 30 days, with baby boomers being the largest group at 80 percent.

In 2019, there were 5.5 million frequent moviegoers aged 60 or above, up from 6.6 million in the previous year. Conversely, more 12 to 17-year-olds were visiting the cinema regularly that year.

Why do some people go to movie theaters less than they used to?

There is a clear overall change in movie-going frequency among U.S. adults – 44 percent of respondents to a 2018 survey said that they saw fewer movies in theaters than five years ago. Whilst many consumers still prefer to see movies in theaters upon their release, the hobby is arguably less popular than it used to be.

Trips to the cinema can be costly – on average, a ticket to a North American movie theater cost 9.11 U.S. dollars in 2018. For many Americans, this is too expensive, especially with streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon offering subscribers better value for money. It is no coincidence that the appeal of the movie theater has waned as streaming services have grown in popularity. It is now the norm to subscribe to a combined TV and movie streaming service, and whilst the nine dollar fee for a movie theater ticket covers just one showing, several streaming platforms allow consumers to enjoy content whenever and wherever they want for similar price per month.

Equally, a movie must appeal to film fans before they go to see it (particularly if they consider the price higher than they would like) and if for several months nothing comes up that interests them, it is only natural that they will visit theaters less regularly. Again, the appeal of a movie often largely depends on age. Far more younger adults are likely to watch live-action Disney remakes like ‘The Lion King’ than their older peers, for instance – and younger viewers also watch dystopian content more than older generations.

In 2023, theater attendance at cinemas run by Cineplex Inc. added up to around 48 million, up from 38 million a year earlier. Still, the 2023 figure amounts to more than a half of the 66.36 million recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Overall attendance at AMC's movie theaters decline slightly between 2023 and 2024. Within the United States, the figure decreased to nearly 157 million from 169.38 million in 2023. Moreover, In the rest of the world, attendance stood at 67.29 million in the same year.

According to recent survey, men under 35 used to watch an average of 5.1 movies in a 6-month period before the pandemic, but this number dropped to 2.1 movies in the past 6 months. However, they hoped to watch an average of 3.1 movies in the next 6 months. On the other hand, women under 35 watched an average of 4.5 movies before the pandemic, but this number decreased to 1.6 movies in the past 6 months. Nonetheless, they too expected to watch an average of 2.9 movies in the next 6 months.

In 2021, approximately 54 percent of moviegoers in the United States and Canada identified as Caucasian and/or White. Viewers who identified as Hispanic and/or Latino accounted for 24 percent of the total.

After a dramatic decline in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of movies seen per capita increased among viewers of all age groups in the United States. The 12-17 age group recorded the highest growth rate (127 percent), going from 1.1 to 2.5 movies per capita. Among people aged 50 and above, the figures stood below one. The number of 3D films released in the U.S. and Canada increased by 200 percent between 2020 and 2021.

Throughout 2023, cinemas across the United Kingdom sold approximately 123,62 million tickets, up from 117 million movie tickets a year earlier. Yet the 2023 figure is still under the number of admissions recorded in 2019: in the last year before the COVID-19 outbreak, movie theaters in the UK sold more than 176 million tickets. Ticket price & box office revenue Despite the decrease in the number of movie tickets sold since the coronavirus spread, the average price of a cinema admission in the UK reached an all-time high in 2023, reaching 7.92 British pounds for the first time this century. But this was not enough to push the British box office revenue even further. In 2023, the figure stood at about 979 million pounds, less than the 1.25-billion-pound box office revenue recorded in 2019. Success abroad According to another source, the United Kingdom/Ireland region is among the top five box office markets worldwide, with a revenue of approximately 1.36 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. Yet the impact of British cinema knows no boundaries. That same year, the global box office revenue of films made in the UK added up to 6.1 billion dollars, almost the double of the 3.4 billion dollars amassed in the previous year.

During a study fielded in Canada from July 2020 to June 2021, over two-thirds – 69.4 percent – of respondents said they had not gone to the movies during the 12 months preceding the survey. Between 2019 and 2020, the box office revenue in the United States and Canada decreased by almost 82 percent.

During an online survey fielded in the United States in April and May 2022, respondents were asked to report their moviegoing frequency in different moments of the past few years. Approximately 21 percent of the interviewees said they went to the movies often before the COVID-19 outbreak started, while 38 percent stated that they sometimes went to see a film in theaters before the pandemic began. The shares stood at six and 21 percent, respectively, during the first four months of 2022. Overall, eight percent of U.S. adults reported going to the movies often as of May 2022.

In 2024, attendance at movie theaters run by Cinemark across the United States stood at nearly 123 million, down from 127.7 million a year earlier – an annual decrease of 3.8 percent. Cinemark's net income amounted to 309.7 million U.S. dollars in 2024.

In 2023, attendance at movie theaters run by Cinemark worldwide added up to approximately 209.8 million, up from 172.7 million a year earlier – an annual increase of 21.5 percent. Attendance at Cinemark's movie theaters in the United States grew similarly in 2023.

According to a study held in June 2020, just 14 percent of adults said that they strongly preferred seeing a movie for the first time in a theater, and 36 percent said that they would much rather stream the film at home than visit a cinema. Preferences for watching a new release in a cinema instead of via a streaming service in the United States changed significantly between 2018 and 2020, signaling a shift in consumer behavior and potentially a risk for movie theaters in the country. Also important to note is the effect of the coronavirus on consumer confidence. There was a drop in the share of movie fans willing to visit cinemas between March and June 2020, likely the result of consumers fearing the risk of infection and feeling more comfortable viewing movies in the safety of their own home.