The movies are clawing their way back in theaters, but, so far, not everyone is showing up like they used to.
NEW YORK — The movies are clawing their way back in theaters, but, so far, not everyone is showing up like they used to. While certain segments of moviegoers are closer to pre-pandemic levels, older moviegoers and family audiences have been slower to return. That’s shrunk already narrow opportunities for non-franchise films to find audiences. Well before the pandemic, superheroes and spectacles were already a bigger and bigger slice of the box-office pie. Right now, they’re closer to the whole meal. David A. Gross, who runs the movie consultancy Franchise Entertainment, estimates that while superhero films are back to about 75% of pre-pandemic levels, adult character-driven genres are down 66% to 75% from normal, and family films are at least than 50% off. That can naturally be attributed to COVID-19 concerns. Older ticket buyers are more likely to be cautious about the virus. Vaccines are only just rolling out for those under 12. But if the trend is more than temporary, it wouldn’t be a surprise to those who have long forecast that the theatrical movie — once the most powerful pop-culture juggernaut on the planet — has split into two increasingly separate camps: Blockbuster and boutique. “It’s a little early to make long-term projections. But the trend was already in place where blockbusters were making up a bigger part of the box office. Like other things that were in place, the pandemic accelerated some of those trends,” says Rich Gelfond, chief executive of IMAX. “When people go out, they want something that’s more special. People got used to watching different kinds of content on their couches.” Hollywood is tracking closely just how many moviegoers it might have lost in a pandemic interim where streaming services made major inroads into homes and exclusive theatrical windows splintered. Bob Chapek, Walt Disney Co. chief executive, said on an earnings call Wednesday that the studio is watching “very, very carefully” how different demographics return to theaters. “We’re still unsure in terms of how the marketplace is going to react when family films come back with a theatrical first window,“ said Chapek, whose studio will later this month release the animated “Encanto” first in theaters for 30 days. Change in consumer behavior, Chapek said “will be more permanent” than the virus. Lately, younger and often male audiences are driving the top box-office performers — films like “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,“ “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,“ “Free Guy,“ “Dune” and “Eternals“ have led a theatrical revival.
