Are Baby Boomers the Last Movie Theater Ticket-Buyers?

Susan Wloszczyna writes in USA Today about teens and 20-somethings’ shift in movie watching from theaters to devices and the resulting focus on older audiences for theatrical releases.

ilms that cater to grown-up tastes are becoming a valuable commodity for studios looking to tap into a growing demographic: ticket-buyers age 50 and up who still adhere to the ritual of seeing the latest releases on the big screen rather than streaming via Netflix or renting from services such as Redbox.

For years, teens and twentysomethings fond of 3-D spectacle and comic-book action have topped the film industry’s most-wanted list of customers. But with increasing competition for entertainment dollars from gadgets, video games and online outlets, Hollywood is courting a more reliable group: the 76 million or so Americans born during the Baby Boom years, 1946 to 1964.

Wlosnczyna notes that an MPAA study shows that more audience members 50 and older fall into the “frequent filmgoer” category.  I was especially intrigued by the impact that the focus on this audience has in casting (Susan Sarandon is more popular than ever) and marketing (AARP magazine).