The way audiences watch movies has changed. With the rise of streaming, on-demand viewing and the convenience of home entertainment, people have more ways than ever to watch a film. For a while, that made movie theaters easy to count out.
This year, they're flipping the script. Fueled by a packed release calendar, 2026 is on track to be the biggest year at the box office since 2019. Backrooms delivered the biggest opening ever for an original horror film. Scary Movie brought back a genre fans had been waiting for. Moana, The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day are set to keep audiences coming through the rest of the summer.
That sustained momentum is what makes this summer different for advertisers. This isn't a season carried by one tentpole weekend. It's a steady stream of cultural moments, each one pulling a different crowd through the doors. Together, they place your brand in settings where people are already focused, anticipating what’s next and engaged with the experience around them.
That attention does not begin and end with the film. The average moviegoer travels more than 11 miles and often plans ahead for a trip to the theater. Whether it's escaping the summer heat, catching up with friends or simply looking for something to do, moviegoing remains one of the more intentional forms of entertainment.
That intentionality often extends beyond the theater itself. MRI-Simmons research found that 85% of moviegoers visit a restaurant or bar before or after a movie. Individually, those trips may seem routine. Collectively, they represent a significant amount of consumer spending. During last summer's movie season, moviegoers spent $14.2 billion across dining, travel, technology and retail categories, including $7.3 billion on dining alone.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens are present at every step of that journey, from the restaurants and retailers surrounding the theater to the screens inside it. National CineMedia (NCM), a cinema advertising platform behind many of those in-theater brand moments, has long viewed moviegoing as an occasion that extends beyond the auditorium.
“Moviegoing is rarely a standalone trip. It often anchors a planned, multi-hour outing that can include dining, shopping, travel or errands before and after the show."
- Manu Singh, Chief Data & Innovation Officer at NCM
That momentum reflects the breadth of today’s moviegoing audience, with the current slate drawing everyone from families to franchise fans.
Within that mix, Gen Z is driving attendance more than any other audience segment. Screenvision reports that 87% attended a movie in the past year, with 41% going six or more times, but they're far from the only audience showing up. Across major releases, NCM found that multicultural audiences are each expected to over-index against the average U.S. adult by roughly 2x.
This diversity gives you more room to be intentional. As different titles bring different audiences into theaters throughout the season, you can shape campaigns around who you want to reach, with audience targeting that reflects the segments, interests and behaviors that matter most to your brand.
Cinema advertising is no longer limited to the big screen. Today, your brand can connect with moviegoers across the full theater journey, from the moments before they enter the auditorium to the anticipation building before the feature begins.
People arrive early, stop for snacks and catch up with friends before the show. In that time before the lights go down, your brand can become part of the anticipation, reaching audiences while they’re gathered, present and ready for the experience ahead.
CEN Media Group's network is designed around those long dwell times, with digital screens placed throughout entrances, concession areas, waiting spaces and other high-traffic locations to put brand messages directly in the path of moviegoer attention.
That proximity is especially powerful for categories tied to the moviegoing occasion, where CEN sees strong performance from brands looking to reach consumers close to the point of purchase.
"Cinema lobby DOOH is especially strong for beverage, snack and QSR brands because it reaches people literally minutes before they hit the concession stand or start deciding where to go after the movie. Instead of competing for a glance in a cluttered feed, you get full-screen, in-view attention.”
- Kevin Romano, CEO, and Samantha Romano, VP of Business Operations at CEN
Beyond the lobby, the pre-show experience creates a different kind of moment. NCM's Noovie pre-show and Screenvision's Front + Center pre-show place your brand on screen before the trailers begin, just when moviegoers are settling into their seats, putting away their phones and turning their attention to the message in front of them.
Cinema earns attention in a way most media environments can't. Screenvision Media, a cinema, video and media company that helps advertisers reach moviegoers, has spent years measuring how audiences engage with the medium.
"Cinema may be a premium brand-building platform, but our data-driven measurement also shows it can amplify downstream results.”
- Jeremy Morgante, SVP, Data and Programmatic at Screenvision
In fact, Screenvision research shows it generates 82% active attention, more than double TV, alongside 75% ad recall, roughly three times higher than TV.
Its impact does not end when the movie starts. You can measure its influence across the customer journey, from brand awareness and physical store visits to lower-funnel actions like app downloads and web conversions, to better understand how real-world exposure influences what people remember, consider and do next.
To extend that impact even further, you can leverage device ID passback to retarget audiences across mobile, display, CTV and social channels, helping create a more connected omnichannel strategy.
Cinema has always been a place where audiences show up fully present. What's changed is how much brands can do with that attention, inside the theater and well beyond it.
This summer's slate is bringing more people through the doors than the industry has seen in years. As audiences return to theaters, brands have more ways to reach, measure and build on those interactions than ever before.
Want to learn more? Explore our entertainment inventory catalog for a closer look at theater environments.