Jessica Mendoza

I mean, first of all, horror has always worked well in theaters because people like to be scared together.

Like it works when you're with a large group in the dark, maybe next to your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Right.

That's really that's really great.

You just can't replicate that at home, you know.

So that's a big thing.

So I don't want to see this as unique to Gen Z. Like young people have always driven the horror genre, you know, all the way back to like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

So that's always been true because, you know, it's all about the things that are dangerous and that are unknown out there in the world.

And you're at an age when you are going out into a scary world, I think.

Well, I think very much that they feel like they are authentic films for and by Gen Z, you know.

And so these are the first big successful movies that are...

made by Gen Z talent who came out of internet culture and speaks very much to that culture.

You know, I don't think a millennial could have made these movies.

Big franchises that have dominated the box office for a long time, like Marvel, like Fast and Furious, are having a harder time.

They're not as successful consistently as they used to be.

The things people talk about this year that's working really well are, like, feel-good, inspiring movies.

The best example of that would be Project Hail Mary, which was a massive success.

And, you know, that's a movie that you come out of feeling really good about humanity's ability to come together and solve difficult problems.

That's something people are really looking for in the movies.

And then also the nostalgia, particularly millennial nostalgia, has been really powerful at the box office.