Though Barbie made a billion dollars in 2023, and Inside Out 2 followed in its footsteps last year, movie theaters are still working to get moviegoers to visit at pre-pandemic levels.
In the first four months of 2024, theater industry growth remained relatively flat at 1% YoY, according to data from the research firm Advan. Comparing 2024’s figures to 2019’s reveals that movie theater attendance was between 14% and 38% lower than it was five years ago.
So what did movie theaters do to entice viewers back this year, and what can they improve upon those results in 2025? We emailed Wanda Gierhart Fearing, chief marketing and content officer at Cinemark, and asked her to reflect on the industry’s bounce-back efforts so far, and what she thinks is coming next.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Looking back at 2024, what did the theater industry do well to get people interested in going to the movies again?
In 2024, we showcased our ability to leverage the strong release slate and ensure the overall moviegoing experience was memorable and immersive at every point. This starts with our sophisticated marketing capabilities across multiple channels, making sure that movie lovers are aware of the incredible can’t-miss content coming to the big screens while also leveraging the current experiential economy to showcase that theaters, especially Cinemark theaters, provide the complete entertainment experiences consumers are looking for in today’s environment. We are able to do that by augmenting the content with specialty packages and events, merchandise, expanded food and beverage, and more…A key part of that is our organic and paid outreach to movie lovers—reaching them where they are and really convincing them that the in-theater experience is what they need for their next outing, no matter if it’s date night, girls’ night, family day out, or anything in between.
Last year and in years past, we’ve seen popcorn buckets take on a new life. How can theaters up the ante in building out the experience of going to the theater this year?
Popcorn buckets are just one of the ways we have been able to create a richer movie theater experience by allowing customers to take a piece of the movie home that will remind them of the great time they had. We continually look at trends and ways in which we can add to the already immersive and carefully crafted experience we offer at each one of our theaters.
When we chatted before, you mentioned that you anticipate the amount of movies coming to theaters to return to pre-pandemic levels this year. How will this affect how your team approaches marketing the theater experience?
While we do expect next year to be yet another year of recovery for the industry, we are encouraged to [see an] upward trajectory with wide release volume continuing to increase, with full recovery expected in the few years ahead.
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The more content we have, the more opportunities we have to engage with our customers and create memorable experiences for them. Whether it’s working alongside the studios on engaging cinematic brand trailers to promote their new films, utilizing merchandise and other special food and beverage programs to build anticipation, or offering special screenings and giveaways to our loyalty members, expanded content allows us to build on our customer engagement even further, ensuring we reach all audiences.
As awards season picks up, how do you think theaters will approach this specific hype around movies and moviegoing?
We know so many cinephiles look forward to awards season every year, and we love to celebrate cinema with them by hosting our annual Oscar Movie Week festival, which gives them the chance to see these incredible films the way they were meant to be seen, on the big screen. Watching these carefully crafted stories in our auditoriums reminds them there is nothing like the cinematic, immersive experience, which helps draw them back to the theater for subsequent new releases.
Are there any particular audience demographics that you’re eyeing to target more specifically in the new year? If so, why?
After going through a complete digital transformation over the past several years, including strategic use of data analytics, our marketing team now has millions of known customers in our database, which allows us to target every single demographic with highly personalized communications, letting them know what movies are coming to theaters that might appeal to them.
Recently, we have honed in on the younger demographics by placing focus on building out our social media presence, as more and more of the Gen Z audience uses these platforms to gather information. According to a recent HerCampus study, 74% of Gen Z users use TikTok for search, and 51% favor it over Google, which means these social channels are an important way to bring awareness of new releases to this age group.
But as we have more varied content throughout 2025, we are able to connect with moviegoers of all demographics utilizing our sophisticated channel mix. Moviegoing is for all ages, and we make sure to keep that in mind across all of our marketing efforts.
What movie moments or initiatives of the new year are you most excited to activate around?
2025 has so many fantastic films across genres coming to the big screen, and we are excited to work closely with our studio partners to create engaging, unique campaigns highlighting both the films and the Cinemark experience. This includes lots of snackable video content to provide immersive storytelling across our marketing channels.
It’s too early for me to share specifics, but we are already working on new merchandise programs, themed food and beverage campaigns, Cinemark brand-specific outreach, and other activations to continue to highlight the content while elevating the overall moviegoing experience.