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Here is a snippet from an article on the Utah Statesman:

According to a Redbox study, Americans watch more than 5,000 movies in their lifetimes, an average of about seven per month.

I cannot find the original source of this "Redbox study". I can only find videos on US Today and Yahoo News that make the same claim and cite the same source.

I also cannot find comparable and credible studies to compare the claim. There are credible answers for how many movies the average American watches at the cinema, but not in general.

Does the average American watch 5,000 movies in their lifetime?

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  • 3
    It's unclear how exactly "watch a movie" is defined. Could be an actual movie theater, but also Amazon, Netflix, air plane, DVD, etc. I probably watch a dozen or so on the plane during a single round trip to China.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Nov 2, 2019 at 19:29
  • 2
    I think that's a doubtful claim made by a DVD rental company. Look at the math. 5000 movies spread over 70 years is a bit over 71 movies per year. When's the last time you watched 70 movies in one year? I'm sure that some people probably do, and that some people may see even more, but 71 movies a year for 70 years? Balderdash.
    – NothingToSeeHere
    Commented Nov 4, 2019 at 18:08
  • 2
    @Ring 71 movies a year is less than 2 per week, with todays television channels and considering the number of hours per week people spend watching television, that doesn't seem excessive at all.
    – gerrit
    Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 8:42
  • 3
    There are movies on TV, no argument. But there is also news/weather/shopping and a multitude of other things to see besides movies. So, 71 movies a year for 70 years? Nah, I don't see it ;-)
    – NothingToSeeHere
    Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 20:19
  • 2
    5,000 movies is one per day, every day, for ~15 years. Average human lifespan is, say, 75 years. So now you only need to average one movie every 5 days, or about 6 per month. The back-of-the-envelope plausibility math checks out. Especially when you start figuring-in folks who watch many more movies than that per week.
    – warren
    Commented Nov 8, 2019 at 18:34

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