The downward trend is a combination of all things your mentioning, but I believe the biggest reason is that no one is really aiming at that age range. All the movies that come out try and hit that wide spectrum from little kids to adults without caring about the middle section. All the superhero movies want to sell toys and be 'adult' for the mature audiences.

There haven't been any high school dramas or comedies that really hits that demo. The last one was probably American Pie. Not to mention, we are sorely missing a John Hughes. There just aren't high school movies that they can connect to.

If I were a studio, I would try and hedge my bets with a wide range of genres/demos and still continue to push action / adventure titles to foreign markets.

I think price is an issue too. It's costly to pony up cash for movie & a popcorn. Teens have expensive tastes these days with all the technology out there to keep up on...spending cash on movies means not getting that new iPod/iPad/phone/fill-in-the-blank gadget as fast. And parents are also strained, keeping up with funding their kids' hobbies, needs and activities as well.

Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

Deadline Hollywood posted:

This is from the 2010-2011 year.

Median Age

CBS: 55

ABC: 61

NBC: 49

FOX: 45

CW: 34

I didn't realize how old the stuff skewed. I kinda always thought they were aiming for 18-49 year olds.

@Chris: I think you're absolutely right. Studios keep trying to hit the so-called four-quardant movies: Male, Female, Adults, Kids. Busy swinging for grand slams while ignoring singles and doubles, provided by targeted, niche movies.

@Angela: Price is certainly a contributing factor. Also convenience. I was at a social function tonight with a 33 year-old male who has been to a movie theater precisely 3 times in the last 2 years. He said, "I've got Netflix, I've got a 55 inch HD screen TV, I've got Blue-Ray, so I can see whatever I want whenever I want, and never have to leave my house."

@James: Those numbers are absolutely stunning. Young people have vacated broadcast nets. If they're watching TV at all, it appears to be primarily cable and non-scripted.

I think it might be a bit early to write off the cinema going experience. Pretty soon the technology will be affordable for people to set up Independent cinemas with quality projection in smaler more flexible venues. A visit to the cinema can become an 'event' that can be skewed to the target market that night. The big chains are too inflexible to do that - their only object is to rip off their captive audience (I know what popcorn costs at the supermarket!). When the only difference between watching at home and watching in a cinema is the fact that the latter costs 10 times as much it's inevitably doomed. Once cheap digital technology is accessible to a wider market it will be these new smaller venues that will inject the 'social' element back into cinema-going. I know it's started in the US already - I hope it'll kick off here soon. It just needs someone smart with a bit of passion to make the first move. Then once the studios realise there's money to be made from all sorts of films - albeit from smaller audiences at more diverse venues - we might see less of this 'one size fits all' approach to greenlighting. The danger will arise if the existing distributors take an obstructive position to new trends - much as the music retail industry did, to it's cost, and the publishing world is doing right now - then there is the distinct possibility that the future market for cinema will have drifted too far to haul back into the boat.

This is easy. I was reading the Waxman article when my stepson's GF said spontaneously that she never goes to movies anymore because they are too expensive. Charge $12-13 for tickets and most HS kids can't afford it, especially with $4/gallon gas.

Charge $8 for tickets and theaters will be filled, and there will be plenty of people who like the moviegoing experience.

There's a term for those young enough to have grown up with the web: digital natives. And I get the impression that they tend to see things fundamentally. I agree with Scott that "for them, watching a movie on a computer or TV screen has a set of advantages that in some way more than offsets whatever seeing a movie in a theater might offer".

I also agree with Lazzard, and can point to my city, Portland, OR, as evidence. We have more than a dozen small local theaters that charge around $5 for tickets, and have reasonably-priced food/drinks — and on Fri./Sat. nights, they're packed with teenagers and twentysomethings. There's so much demand, in fact, that a new one opened up five or six years ago.

I'm on a trip to the Midwest. Took the liberty last night of asking a group of about 20 twenty year-olds about their movie-viewing habits. Remarkably consistent and similar to what I'd heard from the 30 year-old: Convenience of home -viewing, watch what they want when they want, and more than a few mentioning price factor (albeit most complained more about the price of popcorn, soda).

This got a consensus reaction: "What about dates? Do you still like to go out to movies when you go out on a date?" Everybody said yes. So I guess as long as people continue to date, movie theaters will survive.

Oh, and Baby Boomers who actually like to go out to see movies.