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If you run a cinema, you’ll already be delighted by how good a year 2026 has been.
We’re on track for this to be the best year at the global box office since before the pandemic and the group driving it is Gen Z. The details are very encouraging.
Here’s how a photo booth in your foyer adds to your guests’ experience and your bottom line.
Gen Z are filling your seats
A Fandango survey found that almost 90% of American Gen Z-ers had been to the cinema in 2025, a higher share than any other age group. Their average visit count came to 7 trips across the year, ahead of Gen X's 6.1 and baby boomers' 5.7.
Box office analysts are predicting $35bn in global takings this year, a rise of 7% on 2025.
This isn't confined to America. In India, over 50% of Hindi-language box office tickets are now bought by under-30s.
Saudi Arabia's cinema audience skews similarly young, with 66% under 34, and in Vietnam the figure climbs as high as 90%. Japan saw its biggest ever opening weekend with ‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’, thanks to younger audiences turning out in force.
Wherever your cinemas are, the same young audience is likely showing up.
Why they're choosing the cinema
Gen Z are digital natives who grew up surrounded by screens of various sizes. Going to the cinema isn't about escaping that. It's about choosing the biggest screen on purpose, and putting their phone away for two hours.
Analysts have described it as a generation turning back toward something more tactile, drawn to the same kind of nostalgic, analogue appeal that's brought vinyl, real film cameras and other ‘granny-core’ hobbies back into fashion.
"As the internet becomes ever more pervasive, and in many ways ever more annoying, Gen Z are looking for experiences beyond the black mirror." Podcast hosts, Benedict and Hannah Townsend, told the Guardian.
Purposefully blocking time away from your phone
Film TikToker Florence Rose (22) said that going to the cinema is, "a way to connect with friends and share the moviegoing experience in person. Somewhere you can turn your phone off for a few hours and just disconnect from the world."
Getting a stretch of 2 hours away from the incessant accessibility of phones can be difficult to justify. But it’s an expected part of the cinema experience.
Communal experience
23 year-old Jae said, “You don’t get a lot of opportunities any more to really watch things with people in a group. There are moments when everyone in the cinema laughs in unison, or you can see people crying or gasping in shock. It’s the kind of setting where there’s absolutely no commitment to chat, but you are still spending time with people.”
He also talked about the way film unites people in conversation after the viewing: “Not a lot of people are watching the same thing around the same time. Films are released universally. People go in groups or separately and then they’re able to discuss what they thought of it. I just don’t think you get opportunities like that a lot any more.”
It’s not all about big franchises
A small screening can feel just as special as a blockbuster, as long as people watch it together.
Nathan Roberts, who teaches the psychology of filmgoing at Harvard Extension School, says the size of the release matters less than people think, "Event-ness isn't just a question of size, but a question of delight in collective experience."
They're spending more too
Gen Z isn't just showing up more often, they're spending more while they're there.
AMC's own figures show cinema-goers generated 44% more revenue per head in Q2 2026 than they did in the same quarter of 2019.
Dinner beforehand, drinks, a novelty popcorn bucket, a reclining seat, the whole outing is something people are happy to pay for.
Over two-thirds (68% of 18- to 30-year-olds) say they can’t afford the cost of nightclub entry and drinks, but cinema is winning that cost comparison.
Cinemas that lean into this audience are seeing it pay off. For example, BFI Southbank's £4 tickets for under-25s have seen uptake grow by 91% across four years, and this age group now accounts for 21% of the venue's 2024-25 sales.
A photo booth experience is another affordable part of their night out with you.
Get in front of more customers with user-generated content
The conversation about a film doesn't stop when the credits roll.
TikToker Chikamso, 27, explains: "With social media, every time we scroll, not only do we see every new film that's coming out, we also hear people's takes on it. If people online are calling it 'the best film ever', we don't want to feel the fomo, so off we go to the cinema."
The film-logging app Letterboxd tells a similar story. Its user base has climbed from 1.7m in 2020 to 26m in 2026, with 9m of that growth landing since January 2025 alone, and its heaviest users are in the 18 to 24 bracket.
Even celebrities have been pulled into it. Letterboxd staff now stop stars on red carpets to ask about their favourite films, and the resulting clips regularly rack up millions of views.
This audience is already talking about the cinema experience constantly. Most cinema spaces don't give them a proper way to be part of that, beyond a selfie on the way out.
Where a photo booth fits in
A couple grabbing popcorn before the film. A group of friends turning "let's just get out of the house” into a proper night out. Parents making sure no one needs the toilet before they go in.
That's all in the 10 minutes before a screening starts. Most cinemas do nothing with it, beyond selling drinks and snacks.
A photo booth gives people something to do with that moment. Couples get photostrips to tuck into phone cases and wallets. Friends capture excited giggles on the way in, or their chaotic debrief on the way out. Families get something to go straight on the fridge, with everyone in the frame for a change.
Your booth's exterior is designed around your cinema's own branding, so it looks like it belongs there from day one. What changes is the software inside it. The digital photos, gifs and videos it generates can be updated around the release calendar, or to match themed months like horror or Christmas.
Spending on a booth doesn't touch your core ticket or concession revenue, it works with it. The printed photo strip can carry a QR code offering a discount at the concession stand, or money off the next visit. A two-minute moment of fun becomes a reason to spend more that day, and come back for the next release.
And you’ve got a whole GDPR-compliant email segment to nurture, from the moment they get their digital outputs.
Why photo booth partnership works for cinemas
Wherever your cinemas are, the same principles hold for every booth we build. It's designed, built, delivered, installed and managed by us, at no cost to you.
We operate a profit-share partnership, so we’re as invested in its success as you are.
People come to the cinema ready for a good night out. A photo booth gives them an extra fun experience and a physical keepsake of how they felt in the moment.
You get a mini marketing machine that generates extra revenue and delivers instantly postable UGC (with your brand in every frame).
Want to know if it's right for you?
Take our Photo Booth Profit Potential Quiz for a personalised assessment.
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