From WrapPro -- the headline-- Latino Audiences Are the Secret to ‘Godzilla x Kong,’ ‘Bad Boys 4’ and ‘Inside Out 2’ Box Office Boom. Below is a link to the article which requires a password but Ive included the most important talking points. It falls into the "No, sh*t, Sherlock" category but never a bad idea to remind ourselves... Latino and Hispanic moviegoers are helping propel big-budget movies to box office success — a welcome shot in the arm as the 2024 box office struggles to come back to life following a pandemic and two crippling labor strikes. Recent tentpole releases like “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and “Inside Out 2” (fresh off a record-breaking opening weekend) have all seen significant numbers of Latino and Hispanic moviegoers. They are disproportionally higher ticket buyers than other demographic groups because they tend to go to movies in larger groups of family and friends, according to research from management consultant McKinsey. Case in point: “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” the latest and now most successful entry in the MonsterVerse franchise at $571 million worldwide, counted on Latinos and Hispanics for 35% of its audience, just behind Caucasians at 36%, with Asian/other at 18% and Black viewers at 17%. The film played well across the board, with men making up 62% of ticket buyers, but the Hispanic and Latino audience was a defining factor in some areas, according to data from Warner Bros. “Going out to the movie theater with a group of your friends and family in that communal environment of the movie theater is something that has traditionally been a big part of the entertainment diet of the Latino audience, and that’s fantastic for theaters,” Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore senior media analyst, told TheWrap. “Selling one ticket at a time or two is one thing, but being able to have an entire family or group of friends and family go to a movie theater, that’s gold at the box office.” It’s not just action movies capitalizing on Latino turnout. Family films play huge with the demo as well. Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” drew a 36% Latino and Hispanic audience on Father’s Day weekend, a higher share than any Pixar film outside “Coco.” The sequel’s ability to resonate with the demo is translating into boffo ticket sales and great walk up business. The Pixar sequel scored a whopping $155 million during opening weekend, the second-highest North American opening for an animated film ever. It’s so big, it’s already put the box office ahead of schedule on its road to recovery. “For the Latino audience, it’s the tradition that holds for many families of all backgrounds, but certainly we’re seeing in the demographic data and in the numbers that the Latino audience is very, very important to the bottom line for movie theaters and for Hollywood,” Dergarabedian added.
Raishen Nobles
6mo
Here we go with the propaganda. Hispanics. There’s people commenting now about representation and we Latinos are the biggest minority etc… Now everything relies on Hispanics. Omg !
But we still not the leads, or execs…. 🤷🏽♂️ we consumers not producers- hopefully it changes soon
Cinema was never intended nor flourished as a tribal experience. It's always been a big tent, especially because big tents cost a lot in fabric.
Alfredo Hurtado
6mo
Today I found out an interesting fact about us Latinos: the box-office predictions for Inside Out 2 were *way* off (about $90M vs. the actual $155M or so) because we largely buy tickets at the theater right before the film instead of buying them online in advance. Basically, they didn’t see us coming!
Yup. My group for Inside Out 2 was 9 people. We had to buy the tickets in two different transactions because the Cinemex app doesn’t allow for more than 6 tickets at a time 😅 And it was only immediate family (mom, siblings, and three of my siblings’ partners)
And yet they cancel US Hispanic leading content across all platforms and limit theatrical to very small theater. The localized Spanish-speaking world soaring is still under representation and a bigger issue that isn’t represented in content.
Elaine Zhou
6mo
Thank you for sharing, Benjamin Odell. We need to share more of these stories and data so that, collectively, we can help the industry and organizations make better decisions on the products and services they create. The movie business is a mirror of our society, and many industries' growth relies on Latino customers.
Hollywood would be much more profitable/efficient if they made decisions based on data. Hollywood continues to rely heavily on traditional methods, often overlooking the immense value that data-driven decision-making could bring. By harnessing the power of data, the industry could significantly boost profitability and efficiency, moving beyond the outdated "build it and hope they come" approach. Latinos need to see themselves in these projects; we are still not being represented in leading roles.