Poll: Movie theater attendance still far below historical norms

Americans watched an average 1.4 movies in a movie theater over the past 12 months. This includes a historically high 61% who did not visit a movie theater at all, 31% who saw between one and four movies, and 9% who attended five or more.

Gallup has tracked U.S. adults’ movie attendance using this question periodically between 1988 and 1995 and then more regularly from 2001 through 2007. The latest reading is from a Dec. 1-16 Gallup poll, the first since 2007, and it shows a much higher share of Americans who have stayed home from movie theaters altogether. Between 2001 and 2007, U.S. adults watched an average 4.8 movies in a theater, including 32% who saw zero.