Study Shows 82% of People Would Rather Go to the Movies Than Go Shopping on Black Friday

PRESS RELEASE

It’s no secret that Thanksgiving and Christmas are the biggest weekends for blockbuster releases, and moviegoers are getting ready for the holiday movie season. This year, National CineMedia (NCM), creators behind the Noovie pre-show, surveyed 5,000 people about their holiday moviegoing habits—and found that 82% of those surveyed would rather go to the movies than go shopping on Black Friday. Additional data points discovered include:

• 76% would rather go to the movies than watch football on Thanksgiving Day.
• 40% of those surveyed have snuck out of a family holiday gathering to go to the movies… and 21% haven’t but have wanted to.
• Meanwhile, 18% have lied to a family member or significant other about not being able to make it to a holiday function to go to the movies instead.
• 36% say Christmas is their movie-going holiday of choice, while Thanksgiving follows with 20%, and only 1% choose the movies for Valentine’s Day.
• 11% of Generation Z and Millennials (ages 18 – 34) said their family gathering resembled a horror movie or thriller
• 31% would skip out on holiday dessert to eat popcorn at the movie theater.
• 59% said it is scarier to watch a comedy with a noisy and annoying person than to watch a horror movie in the theater.
• 56% said Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

In addition to holiday moviegoing habits, NCM found that the most anticipated movies being released this holiday season include Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (71%), Jumanji: The Next Level (55%), Terminator: Dark Fate (52%), and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (45%).