00:00The 2026 summer movie season has turned into a major comeback story for Hollywood,
00:05with blockbusters, surprise hits, and a new generation of moviegoers
00:09fueling a box office boom. Joining us now is Kevin Goetz, founder and CEO of Screen Engine.
00:15Thank you so much for being here, Kevin.
00:17It's my absolute pleasure, Justine. Thanks for having me.
00:20Of course. We have so much to get to. There's a lot going on in Hollywood right now.
00:24Tell us a little bit about the state of summer box office right now.
00:28What has surprised you the most about audience demand, and what are we seeing out there?
00:31Well, it's been a great summer. I mean, it's been a summer that has rebounded to finally pre-COVID levels
00:40to some degree.
00:41I'll preface it by that. We are looking right now at about almost a $4.5 billion summer,
00:49which, just to put it into context, is more than 20% higher than it was last year,
00:56and more than 20, almost 27% of where it was in 24.
01:02And that's very exciting. And a lot of the reason for that, Justine,
01:06has to do with such a variety of films that have come out in this last few months.
01:14Yeah, it's really interesting to think about the variety being such a driver to get people back to the theater.
01:19And those numbers, again, very impressive compared to what we've seen in the pandemic and even the years coming out
01:25of that.
01:25I mean, we've had huge hits like Spider-Man, Brand New Day, The Odyssey, along with some surprise success stories.
01:31What do you think is really driving people back to the theaters the most?
01:34Is it just that variety that they have so much to pick from, or what is it?
01:37It's certainly a large part of it, because it's like, why did Obsession, which was made for a million dollars,
01:46and will be grossing $500 million worldwide, do so well?
01:52Why did Back Rooms do so well?
01:54Well, for example, Gen Z's really drove the generation that feels as though,
02:04Boo-Boo, for us, by us.
02:07It feels like a movie that they could own.
02:10That's their movie.
02:11You can also look at movies like Spider-Man, which were what I call eight octent, all eight octent check
02:21marks,
02:21meaning boys, girls, moms, dads, teen boys, teen girls, general audience non-parent males,
02:28general audience non-parent females.
02:29So, in other words, that movie will do over $2.5 billion worldwide.
02:37And then you look at something like The Odyssey, which you brought up,
02:43and that movie was a four-quadrant release, because it's clearly not for families,
02:49but it did get over and under, say, 30-year-olds, gender-wise, in all four of those quadrants.
02:58So, in other words, movies that really are for at least somebody or movies that are for everybody.
03:05Yeah, that mix of movies is really impressive to see something, again, yeah, like you're mentioning,
03:10like The Odyssey is such a big blockbuster, and then these other ones with these really tiny budgets
03:14that are a lot smaller that people wouldn't have had any idea that they would do so well.
03:18So, really seeing that variety is so interesting.
03:21Speaking of those kind of low-budget and more unexpected movies that are breaking through,
03:25what does it really tell you about the types of stories that can still cut through all of the noise
03:30in a streaming-dominated world right now?
03:32Yeah, well, that's great.
03:34First, I mean, it's a great question.
03:37I mean, I think what's really interesting is that where streamers have hijacked convenience,
03:47theaters have hijacked, I shouldn't say hijacked, but continue to own experience.
03:52So, you cannot beat the theatrical experience if you give people the reason to leave their homes.
04:00If you can do that, my God, you're talking about a very high call to action, right?
04:08So, to ask someone to pay not an insignificant amount of money, for example,
04:15the average ticket price is $13.46 for a normal adult ticket,
04:22and for a premium large format, you know, ticket is $18.22.
04:31That's not cheap when you're talking about four or six of a family going to see that,
04:35plus concessions, plus parking.
04:37So, there has to be a compelling reason to do that.
04:40And you can see that in the kind of experiences that make people do that, to leave their homes.
04:51And that has to do with several things.
04:53It used to be the franchise, the Marvel movie only.
04:58Well, not so much anymore, particularly this summer, where we learned that, for example,
05:04Spider-Man has obviously enormous IP, but it was the cultural conversation,
05:10it was cultural awareness, it was in the zeitgeist.
05:13Christopher Nolan was clearly the driving force to leave your home, to see the Odyssey.
05:18The obsession became kind of a discovery and word of mouth, particularly driven by,
05:24as I said, Gen Zs, but then it kind of bled out to other cohorts.
05:33And some people, for example, myself, I'm driven by extraordinary reviews.
05:39I know that if something is reviewed at a certain level,
05:43and I mean a very high level, because my time is very valuable,
05:47I'm only going to go if something is in that highest echelon.
05:51Or my friends and family tell me, you've got to see this.
05:55To be fair, because of the business I'm in,
05:58I do see things that also enter the cultural zeitgeist that may not be the greatest movies,
06:03but I want to see them because I want to be in that conversation.
06:07That's happened more this summer than in previous or recent memory.
06:13Yeah, it really is interesting thinking about all of the different reasons
06:15that drive people to go to the theaters.
06:17And like you're saying, having it be this experience,
06:20this kind of current culture experience that people want to take part in.
06:24How much do you think of this summer success at the box office is really the movies,
06:28or is it the actual better marketing, release strategies,
06:32stronger pipeline of content,
06:33and this other kind of cultural kind of conversation around them?
06:37Another good question, Justine.
06:38It all comes down to the movie.
06:40It all comes down to the movie.
06:42And look, I'm in marketing.
06:44I work with the best marketers in the world.
06:47Think about it.
06:48A movie has a launch cycle of four to six weeks.
06:54I mean, the trailer's out maybe months before,
06:56but essentially you're launching your campaign four to six weeks before the product launch.
07:01What other product on the planet does that?
07:04And the shelf life is usually so short.
07:08You have to get, let's just take America, forget globally,
07:12but in America, you've got to get within four to six weeks,
07:16people that have no idea of this original property now aware of it.
07:20And then you have to know that you're only going to have a finite number of weeks to stay relevant
07:26before then it takes on and builds its own sort of brand identity in such a short time.
07:33It's a very interesting phenomenon.
07:34And it's kind of why I love what I do, because that's your sort of always working in the seat
07:40of your pants, you know, and that's exciting.
07:44Yeah, it is very exciting.
07:45And again, there's so many changing factors here that it is always so interesting to see what people are actually
07:50going to what movies and why.
07:52I mean, in looking at your audience research that kind of maybe studios aren't looking at,
07:56what do you think is there that we're not seeing from the numbers alone?
08:00What do you think is out there when it comes to this kind of idea of what is pushing the
08:05audience and other kind of stories going along with that,
08:07that again, maybe is not being picked up on by the studios?
08:10Well, interestingly, if you just take even Gen Z's, which happen to be the flavor of the month right now,
08:17everyone's talking about how are Gen Z's, they're saving the business.
08:19They're not really saving the business.
08:22They are coming because there is product that interests them.
08:26And if you make what is the old field of dreams, if you build it, they will come, you know,
08:31or some version of that.
08:33And that's true.
08:34If you give people what they want to see and they feel it's made for them and there's an authenticity
08:40to that,
08:41not a cash play, but an authenticity, I think they're going to go.
08:44What we learned, too, is that with digital natives, people that grew up with their devices,
08:49people that grew up with just streaming, for example, are more apt now to want to find places where they
08:56can socialize,
08:58where they can be with other people.
09:00And when you look at even the expense of a movie, it's still not the most expensive place,
09:07i.e. concerts, even some sporting events, et cetera, that you can go to on a regular basis to meet
09:13other folks,
09:14to actually have human connection.
09:16And there's something to be said about that.
09:18And I think that movies have always provided that shared experience.
09:23But more than ever, particularly for the younger audience, we're seeing that phenomenon.
09:28Yeah, it definitely seems like we are.
09:30And as we head into the fall and then into 2027, what do you think needs to happen for this
09:35kind of box office momentum
09:36that we're seeing right now to continue?
09:38And what are you going to be watching most closely as we move forward?
09:41Well, I'm very excited for the momentum because I think that we do need to have a product variety.
09:49We need more original films as opposed to rehashes, remakes and sequels.
09:55They definitely have their place.
09:57Sequels, remakes and franchises are really important to the ecosystem of the business and the health of the business.
10:04But what we're seeing and what's so exciting to me is the original stuff, the obsession, the back rooms,
10:14and also movies like Resident Evil, directed by Zack Kreger, who did Weapons and Barbarians.
10:22And you sort of begin to see, wow, he has such a unique take.
10:29He's going to inject this new kind of fervor into a property that has had several sequels.
10:36A great franchise, by the way, but a whole reimagination of that.
10:40And I think that's super, super exciting.
10:43It definitely is.
10:44We have so much to look forward to for the rest of the summer and into the fall.
10:47Thank you so much.
10:48Kevin Yetz, founder and CEO of Screen Engine, we really appreciate your time today.
10:52Thank you, Justine.
10:53It's been a pleasure.
