The year the PG movie thrived

All hail the PG-rated movie — and moviegoing kids.

Hollywood owes a thank you to Gen Alpha (kids 12 and younger) for becoming the most dependable group of moviegoers in America, and fueling a PG movie box-office boost.

For decades, PG-13-rated films reliably generated the highest box-office earnings. Blockbuster franchises like “Star Wars,” “Avengers,” “Harry Potter,” “Avatar” and “Transformers” consistently drew massive audiences to theaters — but shifting moviegoing trends are increasingly favoring PG films over adult-oriented franchises.

This year’s “Zootopia 2,” “Lilo & Stitch” and “A Minecraft Movie” made the biggest bucks globally in 2025. All three are rated PG.

And for the second consecutive year, PG-rated movies outperformed PG-13 movies at the box office. Domestically, PG movies generated $2.87 billion, compared to PG-13 movies, which earned $2.77 billion, per Comscore.

After a record-breaking debut of $313.7 million in worldwide earnings, “A Minecraft Movie” made $958 million worldwide and during its theatrical run and $423 million domestically, making it the highest-earning film at the domestic box office this year.

Live-action remakes like “Lilo & Stitch” earned over $1 billion worldwide and “How To Train Your Dragon” made $636 million. Family-friendly sequels were also high earners, as “Wicked: For Good” has earned $503 million and “Zootopia 2″ has raked in more than $1.4 billion.

“There’s a stigma that PG is just for kids, but they appeal to everyone,” senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Variety. “It’s like comfort food. People know they won’t be bombarded with too much violence or language. It’s wholesome. There’s no shame in going to a PG movie if it’s good.”

The rising tide in PG movies — which has provided theaters with a desperately-needed boost — has been driven by young moviegoers, who drag their parents and other chaperones with them to kid-friendly showings.

A recent report from the National Report Group credits Gen Alpha, which consists of kids born between 2013 and 2025, with resuscitating the entertainment business after a decade plagued by the rapid spread of streaming platforms, the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 Hollywood strikes.

“Kids and preteens,” the report concluded, “have been the driving force behind many of the biggest theatrical success stories of the past three years.”

Gen Alpha, the report found, is the group most interested in the experience of seeing movies on the big screen. Roughly 59% of that generation prefers watching a movie in theaters to watching a movie at home, compared to 48% of Gen Z, 45% of millennials and 46% of Gen X.

The majority of young audiences still view moviegoing as a novel experience, the reported noted. Unlike older generations, these kids grew up with on-demand movies via streaming, so they associate little excitement with an at-home movie night. For them, the real treat is leaving the house to experience a movie in theaters.

It is mostly about the social experience for these young viewers — the biggest driver in young audiences’ moviegoing is a social experience. In contrast, older audiences are motivated to see movies in theaters for its technical experience, such as sound or picture quality.

These young moviegoers are seeking opportunities for “participatory fandom,” or frenzied trends that come with PG releases, such as the viral “chicken jockey” trend that emerged out of “A Minecraft Movie,” sing-along releases of “Wicked,” dressing up as Gentleminions for the “Minions” movies and other rowdy fads older audiences don’t understand.

“Fortunately for studios and for theaters, moviegoing still holds tremendous value for Gen Alpha. They see it as a chance to spend time with friends and family, to mark an occasion, and to take part in something bigger than themselves,” writes the report. “For Gen Alpha, moviegoing is a deeply social experience.”

Superhero and blockbuster franchises on the fritz

Much of the PG movie comeback is not just about kid-friendly films performing better, but about PG-13 movies and franchises performing worse.

Comic book content is no longer a sure thing at the box office. Neither is a star-studded cast. There are still high performing PG-13 franchises, like 2025’s “Superman,” “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and the recent release of “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” but earnings for a slew PG-13 movies sagged far below expectations in 2025.

Marvel superhero movies like “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts” — which reliably made billions in previous years — struggled to match previous success.

Other adult blockbuster franchises also flopped. “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” the eighth installment in the action franchise helmed by Tom Cruise, earned $172 million domestically, performing worse than six of the franchise’s previous films.

Domestic box office revenue for October 2025 hit its lowest point in three decades (excluding 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic) with collective earnings at $425 million — and no major kid-friendly titles were released in October. Titles anticipated to rake in big earnings at the box office, like “Tron: Ares” and “The Smashing Machine,” slumped far below expectations.

The third installment in the “Now You See Me” franchise also dropped over Thanksgiving weekend, earning just $61,000 in domestic ticket sales.

As Hollywood adjusts to shriveling interest in superheroes and other action franchises, the box office will likely favor PG movies again in 2026, as Gen Alpha rallies their families around highly anticipated upcoming releases such as “Toy Story 5,” a live-action “Moana,” “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and a new film adaptation of “The Cat in the Hat.”

Other reading: KSL Movieshow reviews