It’s the summer of 2023, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is finally in theaters. Senior Diana Crisan has been waiting to see it since the first movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, came out in 2018, when she was just in middle school. She and her friend walked into the theater, prickling with excitement, ready to see how the rest of the story would unfold. However, they were met with an unpleasant surprise when they went up to purchase their tickets. They were twenty dollars a piece! After some of the original astonishment wore off, they reluctantly paid. But that wasn’t the end, they were even more shocked when they ended up paying almost forty dollars each for their tickets, a snack, and a drink. They eventually went into the theater, moods dampened, and wondering, when did movies get so expensive?

“Even though I don’t really go a lot, I usually go to movies if my friends or family say it’s good… and some movies I can get… especially excited for,” said Crisan, “I was really… disappointed by how much we both had to pay… even though I did really like the movie.”

When asked why she didn’t go to movie theaters more often, Crisan had some less than stellar things to say about the current state of the film industry.

“…most movies are just kind of trash nowadays to say the least… the actors and writing just aren’t really as good as they used to be, I feel like. I can just… watch movies at home without worrying about wasting my money if I end up thinking… it’s bad,” said Crisan.

Movie theaters used to be a very communal space, and a popular teenage hangout spot. But it seems in the past decade, or even just the past few years, things have changed.

Many people, especially teenagers, are opting to wait for films to come out on streaming services rather than going to movie theaters.

“I… like the overall sound quality and the big screen [of movie theaters]… better, it definitely makes me feel more immersed in… the story and the atmosphere, but streaming a movie is just so much easier… especially nowadays… and it’s just so expensive too, to like actually go to a theater,” said senior Emily Pavon. 

With the rising price in tickets and concessions, which is most likely associated with the 21.4% increase in consumer prices since February of 2020 (Bankrate), the popularity of movie theaters as a whole with the teenage population is declining.

“I remember going to see the first movie… Into the Spider-Verse, with some of my friends from middle school… years ago, and I remember having… such a great time. It definitely wasn’t that expensive back then, I don’t think,” said Crisan.

“[Movie theaters] should be more popular… but instead of going, teenagers just want to… stay home. I feel like they’re dwindling out of… popularity. They need to be cheaper if they want more people to go,” said junior Nicolette Martinez.

A lot of the movies that are coming out these days also just seem to not be appealing to many teens.

“There’s kind of no movies that I really want to see… I see trailers and social media ads and stuff but none of them really stand out to me… like as a gen z high schooler, I guess,” said Pavon.

According to Forbes, May of 2024 was the worst start to a summer blockbuster season since May of 1998, only making 520 million dollars in the box office. That may still seem like a lot, but numbers add up quickly. To put it into perspective, every film released in May of 2024, which included new installments of some beloved franchises, such as Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, made less money combined than Avengers: Endgame made in its first eight days of release back in April of 2019.

Some people are upset by movie theaters’ somewhat decline in popularity, but with the rise of streaming services and ticket prices, it’s evident that something needs to change if they want to remain a stable industry in the future.

“I feel like they could market themselves better… like not just the movies but… the theaters. If they had… TikTok or Instagram I feel like they could reach more teenagers… and make it seem more appealing,” said Pavon.

“I do want to enjoy going to movie theaters again because… it can be such a fun time to have with your friends, and such a great… opportunity to just hang out with them. I just feel like the film industry… is losing touch with their… target demographic if they are wanting to target high schoolers,” said Crisan.

Despite all of this, according to Statista, the revenue in the cinema market is projected to show an annual growth rate of 6.17% by 2029.