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A recent study by the Pew Research Center revealed that only 53% of adults in the United States visited movie theaters during the past twelve months in 2025, while 7% reported that they have never watched a film in a cinema.
These figures reflect the ongoing challenges faced by the North American box office market, which has not fully recovered following the sharp 81% decline in ticket sales in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and theater closures.
In 2025, the number of tickets sold in the United States and Canada reached 769.2 million, less than half of the record high of approximately 1.6 billion tickets sold in 2002. Box office revenues amounted to about $9 billion, compared to the inflation-adjusted historic peak of $16.4 billion in 2002.
The study also highlighted clear generational and economic disparities in attendance rates, with 66% of adults aged 18 to 29 attending movie theaters, compared to only 39% of seniors over 65 years old. Higher-income groups recorded an attendance rate of 64%, compared to 43% among lower-income groups.
Attendance also varied by ethnicity, with Hispanic Americans having the highest attendance rate at 59%, followed by White Americans at 53%, and Black Americans at 49%. Gender had little impact on attendance, as rates were similar between men and women.