Hispanic Movie-goer attendance reaches unprecedented levels.

Hispanic movie-goer attendance for this summer’s blockbusters has set unprecedented records, according to Hispanic Media Marketing which formulated estimates after reviewing Nielsen EDI box office charts in the cities of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and San Antonio.

Following the trends of the Moviegoers by Ethnicity report for the years 2006 and 2007 prepared by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Hispanic movie-goers represented a 24 percent increase in 2007 alone, despite declining numbers of movie-goers in general and admissions of Caucasians and African Americans overall.

Hispanics:

. Were responsible for buying 297 million tickets compared to 150 million for African Americans and 115 million of all other ethnicities together.

. Represented almost 33 percent of the Caucasian moviegoers and admissions in 2007.

. On admissions-per-moviegoer, bought 10.8 tickets per person compared to 7.9 per person for the general market.

With MPAA 2008 reports pending release, Hispanic Media Marketing projects that following growth exhibited in market trends since 2004, the admissions-by-ethnicity figures for Hispanics on the 2008 report will exceed 310 million – a number which will be 1/3 or more of the Caucasian numbers.

Major motion pictures studios are recognizing the importance of directing advertising of top blockbusters to the ever-growing U.S. Hispanic audience.

In the spring of 2008, movies such as Lionsgate’s “The Forbidden Kingdom” with Jackie Chan and Jet Lee became a great favorite among Hispanics across the nation, followed by Universal Pictures’ “The Strangers” and all-time Hispanic favorite, “The Incredible Hulk” which rounded out the 2008 summer blockbuster line-up.

The recent release of Lionsgate’s “The Perfect Game” with Cheech Marin, a film based on a true story of a Mexican little league’s baseball team, is expected to be very well received by Hispanics everywhere.

Hispanics turned out in powerful numbers for the ultimate and biggest all-time blockbuster from Warner Brothers, “The Dark Knight.” This latest Batman movie broke all previous attendance and sales records on its opening weekend, attracting the highest ratings in critics’ reviews (89-100), more than any other movie this summer.

President and founding partner of Hispanic Media Marketing, an advertising and marketing consulting firm focused on the U.S. Hispanic market for over 25 years, Tito Alvarez pointed out that “there is tremendous opportunity for the movie industry to benefit from capturing the purchasing power of the Hispanic market segment.”

In the last 8 years, Hispanic attendance at movie theaters has reached unparalleled levels from coast to coast. The same is true for rentals and purchases of DVDs.

Alvarez added, “This movement is about more than Spanish-speaking movies – the impact of attendance of Hispanics at movie theaters across the country affects the profitability potential of all mainstream blockbusters. With U.S. Hispanics’ median age at 26.7-years-old, the younger age is significant when compared to the overall general market audience at 39.6-years-old. Members of this age bracket are most attracted to motion pictures and are a highly coveted market segment by the movie industry.

“Less than a handful of years ago – in 2004 – there were an average of 4.2 persons in this demographic per Hispanic household – these figures are definitely higher today. Just since 1990, the Hispanic population has increased by more than 50 percent.”

“What’s important to note about Hispanics’ consumer habits regarding the entertainment industry is that when Hispanics go to the movies, the event is a whole-family affair,” said Alvarez. “Hispanics don’t leave kids at home with babysitters – they bring them along. This approach to entertainment means more tickets get purchased at the box office, and a greater number of accompanying popcorn and soft drinks sales in theaters.”

The average age of youngsters accompanying families to the big screen falls between the ages of 8 to 15. Even though Spanish is the language of preference within the household, most of the movies families rent, purchase and go to see at theaters are mainstream movies.

According to Alvarez, “The purchasing power of Hispanics in the entertainment and movie industry is quite simply impressive.”

“In the last five years, there have been more movie trailers exposed through the Spanish broadcasting media than ever before,” concluded Alvarez. “As the Hispanic population continues to grow according to U.S. Census projections, we anticipate further rise in these figures and influence in years to come.”