Group of happy people laughing while watching movies in cinema.
Zoran Zeremski | stocks | beautiful pictures
Gen Z has been a mystery to the entertainment industry for years. But now have more insight into what they like.
The short answer: Minions and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, according to new data from the intelligence firm Morning Consult.
Long answer: Generation Z fits some of the same stereotypes as previous generations of younger generations that share a love of comedy and horror, but this current demographic is also very conscious of how they use time, prefer shorter TV episodes and short films over movies. They also spend less time on news from traditional media sources.
Between the ages of 13 and 25, this group grew up on the internet and social media, and enjoys a strong economy with near-record unemployment.
Then the pandemic hit.
Studios struggled to reach this tech-savvy group before Covid-19 closed cinemas and pushed audiences to streaming options and social media entertainment like TikTok. Now, Hollywood is trying not only to ramp up production but also to accommodate this younger generation of viewers. And it’s important for showbiz to understand the tastes of the generation as it matures.
Small lady, petty lady, petty lady
Saleah Blancaflor, entertainment reporter for Morning Consult, said: “It may not come as a surprise that Gen Z is flooded with social media. “Our Morning Consult research shows that the majority of Gen Z hear about upcoming releases from people posting about them on social media.”
Blancaflor pointed to the “#GentleMinions” trend, which became popular on TikTok during the movie’s release this year. Universal and Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” is a prime example of how Gen Z has heard about the movie’s release and can rally around to boost the box office.
The trend sees groups of young audiences dressed in formal attire to attend movie screenings. The film grossed $107 million domestically in its opening weekend, with 13- to 24-year-olds accounting for 56% of the box office, according to PostTrak data from Comscore.
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” is the sequel to the 2015 film “Minions” and the spin-off/prequel to the main series “Despicable Me”.
Universal
The Despicable Me franchise including “Rise of Gru” has a larger fan base among America’s Generation Z than any other entertainment product, according to Morning Consult.
by Sony The “Jumanji” franchise came in second, fueled by Gen Z’s love of The Rock — Morning Consult said 73% of respondents were sympathetic to the action star.
next to by Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe and “Pirates of the Caribbean”, then Universal’s “Jurassic Park”. by Netflix “Stranger Things” came sixth and DC Universe, owned by Discovery of Warner Bros.ranked 10th.
Gen Z grew up with Minions. The first “Despicable Me” was released over 12 years ago.
“A lot of the properties mentioned in the survey we did tend to be a little more popular with millennials,” explains Blancaflor. “Lord of the Rings and Star Wars are on the slightly lower list than Minions or Jumanji. Those movies, and even a lot of Marvel movies, came out a little before Worlds. Z-system begins to mature.”
This could mean that Universal is on track to green-light more Minions content. “Despicable Me 4” is slated to premiere in July 2024.
They like to be scared
In addition to enjoying humorous content, Morning Consult determined that Gen Z is more interested in horror movies than the general public.
The company’s data shows that 1 in 3 Gen Z adults saw a horror movie in theaters this fall, a significant percentage of voters considering that studios and theaters Movie theaters in Hollywood have struggled to consistently attract audiences back since the pandemic.
“Gen Z is becoming a more trustworthy audience,” Blancaflor writes in her report on the cohort. “Especially, for scary things.”
She noted that recent original horror films such as “Barbarbian” by Sony Pictures and “Smile” by Paramount Pictures have surpassed expectations at the domestic box office thanks to the strength of this young audience.
“Message to the studios: the Zer generation’s tastes in horror, comedy and horror-comedy are diverse,” Blancaflor wrote. “They want movies and TV shows that scare them as well as make them laugh.”
As Hollywood looks to get moviegoers, especially young people, back into cinemas, Morning Consult suggests they invest their marketing dollars in advertising on platforms like TikTok, where Generation Z live.
The data shows that most of this generation hears about upcoming movies and TV shows from social media posts. More than half of Generation Z watched, read, or heard about the #GentleMinions trend on TikTok and were encouraged to watch the movie at the cinema and document them wearing suits and sunglasses.
Similar results were found for “Smile”‘s social media marketing, which showed hired actors attend MLB matches on television, among other venues, and flash creepy smiles. shiver in front of the camera.
How much is too much?
In addition, apps like TikTok have shaped how much Gen Z wants to spend watching TV or watching movies, Morning Consult reported.
While prestige television ushered in the age of long-running TV shows, such as the hour-long “Game of Thrones” episodes on HBO, and blockbusters have grown to last longer. At three o’clock, Gen Z is balking at this trend.
As reported by Morning Consult, Gen Z wants TV episodes to be 45 minutes or less, with 35% of respondents calling it the ideal length and 34% preferring 30-minute episodes. As for movies, Gen Z said they prefer them to be between two and two and a half hours.
Blancaflor said that while some streaming services, like Netflix, have experimented with show length, others have adjusted the direction too far. She pointed to Quibi, the short-form entertainment app that failed when trying to make 10-minute TV episodes.
Blancaflor said that while Quibi can understand that younger audiences prefer more condensed content, its implementation was flawed, leading to the app shutting down after just a few months.
“The way this generation spends their time is very important and precious to them,” she said.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
