Earlier this year, the InsideHook editorial staff nominated its favorite movies to watch on a plane. Our criteria? No disaster scenarios, reasonable runtime, conducive to a 12-inch screen, not a “group watch” and won’t horrify the rando next to you. The perfect plane movie will ideally blend all of those attributes, and distract at least somewhat from the stress of transporting your body and belongings across the country.
As it turns out, one of our nominations — Crazy Rich Asians — was actually one of the most-watched films on American flights this year. So either a lot of people read that article, or Americans just have a great grasp on what makes a good plane movie. (We like to think it’s a combination of the two.) That revelation comes courtesy of Fortune, which compiled data from Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest and United Airlines from the past year.
The overall winner, though, was pretty clearly A Star Is Born, which placed first with JetBlue and Southwest, and second with Alaska and United. Crazy Rich Asians, meanwhile, took first for Alaska, second for Southwest and third for United. Other strong performers include The Lion King, Aquaman, Bohemian Rhapsody and Captain Marvel. No crazy surprises there, really. Flights are a great opportunity to catch up on all the blockbusters you’ve missed over the course of the year. But we’d recommend saving $100 million budget movies for a bigger screen. (Except for Crazy Rich Asians, which is so delightful it deserves to be watched on an old iPod Classic.)
If you’re looking for ideas for movies to watch over your holiday flight, or during trips in the new year, head here.
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