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Chris Hewitt and Abby Sliva<\/span> Minneapolis \u2014<\/em> Conventional wisdom is that members of Gen Z are on their phones 24-7. But once or twice a week, Abraham Teuber can\u2019t wait to put his down.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when Teuber \u2014 who, at 25, is near the upper end of the 14-29 age range of Gen Z \u2014 goes to the movies. And the Minneapolis resident is in good company. Hollywood executives worried that his demographic permanently shifted to streaming content during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Instead, Zers are leading moviegoers back into theaters.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an audience we thought would be lost to the small screen and to social media and other technology. We thought that they may shun the very analog experience of watching a movie on the big screen,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst for several decades with the media company Comscore.<\/p>\n Instead, Gen Z is buying up a higher percentage of movie tickets, rising from 34% of the overall box office in 2019 to 39% last year, Dergarabedian said. Like Teuber, most of the Zers, aka Zoomers, are turning off their phones for the duration of the film \u2014 and, possibly, turning them back on afterward to post reviews on apps such as Instagram or Letterboxd.<\/p>\n That\u2019s exactly what happened last year with \u201cA Minecraft Movie.\u201d Despite poor reviews, it became a billion-dollar hit, in part because its \u201cchicken jockey\u201d scene went viral on social media, becoming something you had to see in theaters to be in on.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s driving a lot of this, ironically, is social media. A medium that is very small screen-centric and digital is becoming a huge influence in powering this age group to going out,\u201d said Dergarabedian. \u201cThey are going to theaters to have a tactical, immersive, communal experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy Windels, manager at the Main Cinema in Minneapolis, says crowds there back that up. Windels has noticed that older moviegoers seem more reluctant to return to theaters, but frequent sold-out showings in recent months represent a \u201cbig improvement\u201d year-to-year.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople were getting sick of going between home and work,\u201d said the 27-year-old Windels. \u201cAnd you can go with your friends. Discussing film and loving film, I think, has been a real draw since COVID, in a different type of place where there aren\u2019t any other obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n Global box office figures back that up. The $8.6 billion worldwide grosses in 2025 were the second-best since the box office cratered in 2020.<\/p>\n Jesse Bishop programs movies for the Main, where at least one of five screens is often playing a title from Zoomer favorite A24 Films, the company that released hits including \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d and \u201cEverything Everywhere All at Once.\u201d He agreed that the pandemic is a big piece of the puzzle. Especially since the University of Minnesota campus, located a mile and a half from the Main, provides a steady stream of new customers in that age group.<\/p>\n \u201cGen Z was trapped at home for that whole period when they were young. And I think in general, it\u2019s the young people who tend to want to be not cooped up at home now. So it makes sense that they\u2019re finding refuge in going to the movies,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0|\u00a0 Minnesota Star Tribune<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n