More African-Americans, Asians in U.S. Are Going to the Movies

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img class="main-media__image" src="http://cdn4.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2017/03/rogueoneasws2016_16-h_2017.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br /> <figcaption class="media__details-text" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="media__credit" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #898989; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Photofest</div> <div class="media__caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'</div> <div class="media__caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br /></div> <div class="media__caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <h2 class="article__deck" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Noe, georgia, serif; font-size: 1.75em; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Females also made a strong showing, fueling three of the five top-grossing movies in North America last year, compared to just one in 2015, while those between the ages of 18 and 24 went to the cinema more times than any other age group. </h2> <h2 class="article__deck" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Noe, georgia, serif; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-size: small;">[Source: <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/more-african-americans-asians-us-are-going-movies-987936" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a>]</span></h2> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Diversity is on the rise at the multiplex.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> African-Americans and Asians made gains in 2016 in terms of the number of trips they took to the theater, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, which on Wednesday released its <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/international-box-office-flatlines-2016-mpaa-report-says-987921" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0074ae; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">annual report on moviegoing</a>.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The uptick followed the #OscarsSoWhite controversy in early 2016 and a concerted effort by Hollywood to showcase films with a more diverse cast.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Moonlight</em>, a coming-of-age story about a young black man, won the Oscar for best picture last month in a surprise upset, while <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hidden Figures</em>, based on the story of three black female scientists who helped NASA put the first men into space, was a box-office hit. <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hidden Figures</em> and Denzel Washington's <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fences</em> were also nominated for the Oscar for best picture alongside <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Moonlight</em>.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> MPAA chief Chris Dodd told reporters during a press call that such films are having an impact, but agreed there is a long way to go in terms of diversity behind and in front of the camera.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br /></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> "A lot of this [audience growth] is a result of diversity in content. Look at the <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fast and the Furious</em> series. No one had any idea how big it would be. The cast of these movies represents the populations of the world. You see bigger returns on movies like that," Fithian added.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Disney and Lucasfilm also made a point to feature a diverse cast in both <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Star Wars: A Force Awakens</em>, opening in late 2015 and carrying over into 2016, and R<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ogue One: A Star Wars Story</em>, released in December 2016.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> According to the MPAA report, the number of frequent African-American moviegoers jumped 47 percent from 3.8 million in 2015 to 5.6 million in 2016, the highest number in recent memory. Another stat shows African-Americans buying 14 percent of all tickets sold, compared to 11 percent the year before.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The number of frequent Asian moviegoers also increased, from 3.2 million to 3.9 million. And in 2016, Asians made the strongest showing of any ethnicity group in terms of the share of tickets purchased (14 percent) relative to their share of the population (8 percent).</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> For years, Hispanics have over-indexed in terms of the share of movie tickets they buy, and are the largest segment of the moviegoing population after Caucasians.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The number of frequent Caucasian moviegoers declined from 19.3 million in 2015 to 18.3 million in 2016. And while this group still makes up the majority of all tickets sold, that share fell from 55 percent to 51 percent year-over-year.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Females also made a strong showing, fueling three of the top five grossing films at the North American box office in 2016, <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Dory</em> (55 percent), <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Secret Life of Pets</em> (54 percent) and <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Jungle Book</em> (52 percent). In 2015, only one female dominated-film landed in the top five, <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Inside Out</em>.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Hollywood and theater owners also made gains in luring more millennials, with those between the ages of 18 and 24 going to the movies an average of 6.5 theaters in 2016, more than any other age group and up after a notable decline in 2015.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.95; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Among frequent moviegoers — who accounted for 48 percent of all tickets sold in 2016 — the only group that dipped were those between the ages of 40 and 49.</div> <h2 class="article__deck" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Noe, georgia, serif; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-size: small;">[Source: <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/more-african-americans-asians-us-are-going-movies-987936" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a>]</span></h2> </div> </figcaption></div>

Entertainment Hollywood More African-Americans, Asians in U.S. Are Going to the Movies

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Photofest 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' Females also made a strong showing, fueling t...

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