America’s all-time favorite movie revealed in new poll

“Forrest Gump” has been crowned America’s all-time favorite movie, showing that heart-wrenching, soul-seeking films grip their audiences the most.

Following Tom Hanks’ “Forrest Gump” (17%) and his childlike optimism comes the more than 80-year-old classic “The Wizard of Oz” (15%) and James Cameron’s historical fiction film “Titanic” (15%).

The 1994 animated, coming-of-age story “The Lion King” (15%) ranked fourth, and Patrick Swayze’s romantic drama “Dirty Dancing” (15%) rounded out the top five.  

This is according to a poll of 2,000 general population Americans, conducted by Talker Research, which also found that different generations have different movie preferences.

The average American believes that they’ve watched their favorite movie 38 times, while millennials average about 50 times, followed closely by Gen Z (49 times).

As the memes suggest, “Shrek” is a staple for Gen Z, along with “Toy Story” (25%) and the newer, now-classic “Avengers: End Game” (24%).

Despite premiering before they were even born, the “Jurassic Park” series was found to be most popular with the youngest generation (16%).

The “Harry Potter” series was also found to be popular among Gen Z (15%), but was slightly more for millennials (16%). 

The “Star Wars” series is equally favored among Gen Z as it is with Gen X (both 15%), while baby boomers opt for “The Godfather” (15%).

According to a little more than one-third of Gen Z (34%), the soundtrack can make or break a movie.

Almost three in five (56%) even admit their all-time favorite movie could be categorized as a guilty pleasure.

These movies must fall more on the pleasure than the guilty side as millennials believe they can recite almost half by heart (48%), compared to baby boomers who average about 23%.

This may be because a little more than a third of millennials rewatch their favorite movie daily (12%), a few times per week (12%), or once per week (11%), while 19% of baby boomers only indulge every few months. 

Taking things a step further, the average American believes that they could watch their favorite movie an average of three times without getting sick of it, with Gen Z averaging five times.

AMERICA’S ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOVIES

• “Forrest Gump” – 17%
• “The Wizard of Oz” – 15%
• “The Titanic” – 15%
• “The Lion King” – 15%
• “Dirty Dancing” – 14%

• “John Wick” series – 13%
• “Home Alone” series – 13%
• “Fast & Furious” series – 13%
• “Star Wars” series – 12%
• “The Godfather” – 12%
• “Back to the Future” – 12%
• “Die Hard” – 12%

• “Jurassic Park” series – 12%
• “Indiana Jones” series – 11%
• “Rocky” – 11%
• “Toy Story” – 11%
• “Ghostbusters” – 10%
• “Rush Hour” 10%
• “Top Gun” – 10%
• “Harry Potter” series – 10%

FAVORITE MOVIES BY GENERATION

• Gen Z – “Toy Story” (25%), “Avengers: End Game” (25%), “Shrek” (24%)
• Millennials – “The Lion King” (22%), “Forrest Gump” (18%), “Titanic” (17%)
• Gen X – “Forrest Gump” (18%), “Rocky” (16%), “Star Wars” series (15%)
• Baby boomers – “Dirty Dancing” (19%), “The Wizard of Oz” (18%), “Forrest Gump” (17%)

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 general population Americans with 1,000 men and 1,000 women; the survey was administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Friday, Jan. 31 and Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.