Sequels that should sparkle for the 15-24s

Half of the top 10 highest-grossing films at the Irish box office this year might be kids' films – Despicable Me 2 currently lies in the number one spot for 2013 – but three blockbuster sequels set for release between now and Christmas are expected to have particular appeal to 15-24-year-olds, according to Carlton Screen Advertising.

In December, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and the much-awaited return of Ron Burgundy in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues are expected to attract a high proportion of teenage and twentysomething moviegoers, the cinema advertising sales house notes, while before that, November 22nd sees the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Figures from the ROI Film Monitor, a quarterly survey conducted by Millward Brown Lansdowne, show that some 30 per cent of the cinema audience for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on its release last winter was aged 15-24, while the first Anchorman movie, way back in 2004, had an audience profile of 66 per cent 15-24. The audience for the first instalment in The Hunger Games franchise, meanwhile, was 64 per cent aged 15-24 and was also notable for the fact that it was 53 per cent female.

For advertisers wishing to target those of us unlucky enough to be aged 25 and over, Carlton Screen Advertising suggests its "awards package" of films such as August: Osage County, Saving Mr Banks and Mandela that are likely to get a mention or six in next year's outbreak of red carpet action.