A years-long decline in movie attendance by young consumers continued in 2014, with a 15% drop in the number of films seen by 12- to 24-year-olds vs. 2013, according to Nielsen via Variety.  That age group saw an average of 10.3 movies in theaters in 2008, but saw only 8.4 in 2013 and 7.1 this year, according to the report.  Movie attendance by people 25 and up has remained relatively stable.

An MPAA study released earlier this year found similar trends, with 2013 attendance by 18- to 24-year-olds down 17% and by 12- to 17-year-olds down 15%.

Overall movie attendance is down this year, although by exactly how much will not be known until final numbers are tabulated.  Box office revenue was off 4.6% through early December.

It’s unclear whether younger consumers are just watching more video at home instead of going to theaters, or it’s a content problem.  Two animated films were moved from 2014 to 2015 (see "Animation Gap in 2014"), but that doesn’t explain the drops in attendance in earlier years.  2015 should be a key year in determining whether the trend can be affected by the nature of releases, with two Pixar films, a big Universal film (the untitled Minions film), Star Wars, and Avengers, among others, bringing younger moviegoers into theaters.