Films, News, Women Directors

Fandango Study Investigates What Women Want at the Movies

Women are playing a major role in “Black Panther’s” box office success: Disney/Marvel Studios

Fandango is celebrating International Women’s Day by setting the record straight about female moviegoers. #TimesUp on the myth that women don’t frequent cinemas and are only interested in weepy romances and rom-coms. The digital movie network surveyed more than 3,000 female moviegoers, ages 18–54, to find out what kinds of movies women like to watch, their purchasing habits, and their opinions on women’s representation on-screen. Their findings prove just how foolish Hollywood is to underestimate women as a market, and to buy into retrograde notions about what women want.

Despite years of MPAA research suggesting otherwise, studios have long operated on the assumption that men account for the majority of moviegoers. This new study from Fandango digs deeper into women’s power and preferences at the cinema.

The research is organized according to topics including “What Women Like to Watch” and “Views on Women and Film.” Fandango Correspondent Alicia Malone is set to discuss the results at her SXSW panel, “The Female Voices of Film Twitter” on March 11.

“It’s clear from our survey that women want more female-driven stories told by female writers and directors on the big screen,” said Malone. “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.”

We’ve collected some of the study highlights below, courtesy of Fandango.

  • 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.
  • 85% are the decision-makers when picking movies for friends and family.
  • 73% prefer to watch movies on the big screen.
  • 64% choose to go to the movies for their girls’ nights out.
  • 57% purchase the tickets for their movie dates.
  • 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.

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