Theatergoers for Academy Awards best picture-nominated films have become younger and more diverse over the past four years, a report released exclusively to Variety showed.
Movio, a Vista Group company which specializes in cinema marketing data analytics, said the changes in demographic shifts correspond to the best picture lineup becoming more diverse since the 2015 Oscars, when the #OscarsSoWhite controversy arose after all 20 of the acting nominations went to Caucasians.
“Our results indicate that the audience attending films nominated for best picture for the 2019 Oscars represents the youngest and most racially diverse best picture audience over the past several years,” the report said. “Much of this is due to the inclusion of and box office success of ‘Black Panther’ in the nominations.”
The other best picture nominees are “BlacKkKlansman,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Favourite,” “Green Book,” “Roma,” “A Star Is Born,” and “Vice.” The 91st Academy Awards will take place on Sunday.
“The audience attending films nominated for best picture 2019 represents the youngest and most racially diverse best picture audience over the past several years,” the report said. “Caucasian moviegoers have gone from 72% of the audience for the 2016 nominees to 64% for the 2019 nominees.”
Related
The 2016 lineup consisted of “The Big Short,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Brooklyn,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Martian,” “The Revenant,” “Room,” and “Spotlight.”
The report also found that African-American attendance rose to 14% of the total audience in 2019, from 8% in 2016. Hispanics attendance increased from 13% to 15% during that period, according to Movio.
“In 2016, 49% of the audience that attended the nominated films was 50 or older,” the report said. “Over the past three years that percentage has declined to 35% for the 2019 nominees.”
Prior to 2019, child tickets accounted for between 1% and 2% of tickets sold for Oscar-nominated titles, while child tickets are roughly 5% of tickets sold this year. Senior tickets have fallen from 24% to 13%, according to Movio.