To celebrate International Women’s Day and the start of the SXSW Film Festival, Fandango surveyed more than 3,000 female moviegoers, ages 18-54, to find out what women like to watch at the cinema, their moviegoing and purchasing habits, and their views on women’s representation in modern-day films.
Fandango Correspondent Alicia Malone will discuss the survey results on her SXSW panel, “The Female Voices of Film Twitter” on Sunday, March 11th, 2-3 pm at the Austin Convention Center 16AB.
“It’s clear from our survey that women want more female-driven stories told by female writers and directors on the big screen,” says Malone, author of the new book, ‘Backwards & In Heels: The Past, Present, and Future of Women Working in Film.’ “Contrary to the age-old Hollywood belief, women are not just looking for romance at the cinema. In fact, our survey shows that female moviegoers prefer action movies to romantic comedies as their genre of choice.”
What Women Like to Watch:
- The majority of women surveyed chose action movies (with 22% of the vote) as their favorite movie genre, while only 9% chose romance or romantic comedy as their favorite genre.
- 82% are more inclined to see a movie with dynamic female characters.
- 75% prefer to watch movies with diverse casts.
- 57% prefer female-driven stories to be told by female filmmakers/writers.
Moviegoing Habits:
- 85% are the decision-makers when picking movies for friends and family.
- 73% prefer to watch movies on the big screen.
- 68% prefer to buy their movie tickets in advance.
- 64% choose to go to the movies for their girls’ nights out.
- 62% look for reserved seating when buying tickets.
- 60% get their movie information from social media.
- 57% purchase the tickets for their movie dates.
Views on Women in Film:
- 79% believe the “Time’s Up” movement will have a tangible impact on women working in Hollywood.
- 77% contend that female characters are often stereotyped in blockbusters.
- 75% would like to see more female ensembles in the movies.
- 62% feel that women are not equally represented in big screen roles.
Separately, Fandango analyzed its ticketing data, which shows:
- 52% of Fandango’s overall tickets are purchased by women.
- 49% of Fandango’s “Black Panther” tickets to date have been purchased by women.
- 41% of Fandango’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” tickets were purchased by women.
- 56% of Fandango’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” tickets were purchased by women.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, FandangoNOW, Fandango’s premium on-demand video platform, is launching Alicia Malone’s curated list of classic movies directed by female filmmakers, a playlist of contemporary films from “Lady Bird” to “Lost in Translation” and inspired by Malone’s new book, “Backwards & In Heels.”
