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Showbiz is booming.
Movie theaters have cheated death. Despite being able to watch *any* flick we want wherever and whenever we want, 2026 was the year we went back to the movies.
Yearly domestic grosses are expected to top $10 billion for the first time since 2019—NTM the summer box office alone wound up hitting an all-time domestic record with $4.76B, unseating the previous high of $4.756B in 2013.
Amid the pandemic, there was a growing concern movie theaters couldn’t compete with YouTube, Netflix and on-demand streaming. Fears that younger generations saw theaters as outdated were also on the rise. But turns out, the comeback began with the youth.
Gen Z is the most active moviegoing demographic—and they’re opting for nicer (and pricier!) formats like IMAX. The lure stems from hits new and old, from adaptations and nostalgic sequels like The Odyssey, Devil Wears Prada 2, Spider-Man: Brand New Day to new concepts from young filmmakers like Backrooms and Obsession.
Not only are the new movies better, says local film fanatic Trent Lose, but moviegoers are also showing out for old flicks. Local theaters and chains alike are more consistently screening classics from decades past.
“The Rialto is playing Steel Magnolias,” Lose tells RM, “and I’d rather go watch that movie in a room full of people who likely saw it in theaters when it first came out and want to relive that.”
Another local moviegoer maintains streaming services actually help bolster theater sales. “There are so many different services, you can’t share passwords outside of households, they are crazy expensive and some of them still have ads,” she tells RM. If she wants to see a movie, she’d rather just buy a ticket.
To wit, going to the theater is a cultural experience akin to going to a museum, says Lose, and being in the know—and maybe even logging it on Letterboxd—is chic. “Movies are more in the cultural zeitgeist,” he emphasizes. “Think about Barbenheimer.” It’s community, culture and entertainment—just for the price of a single ticket.
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