Retired tax officer Glenwood Hoskin Jr., 60, watched 1,207 films in one year at his local Regal cinema in Pennsylvania, an average of 3.3 a day, and Guinness World Records says he beat the previous mark of 777 by 430 movies.
Guinness World Records announced the new title on October 30. Glenwood Hoskin Jr., from the United States, now holds the record for the most films seen in a cinema in one year.
He set it between April 2024 and April 2025, sitting in the seats of his local Regal Cinema in York Haven, Pennsylvania, according to Guinness.
In 12 months, he watched 1,207 films on the big screen. That works out to an average of 3.3 movies every day of the year.
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430 films above the old record
The previous record was 777 films in one year, set by Zachariah Swope, also from the United States, Guinness says.
Hoskin passed that mark and kept going. His final total is 430 films above the old record, an increase of more than 50% over Swope’s figure.
Guinness opened its story with the line from the AMC cinema ads voiced by Nicole Kidman, “We come to this place for magic,” and said that, in Hoskin’s case, people can also come to the cinema for world records.
Guinness describes the 60-year-old as a lifelong lover of music and film who “absolutely smashed” the previous mark.
From early morning to midnight
Hoskin treated the challenge like a work schedule. He told Guinness he would check the listings every day and plan to see as many movies as possible, from early morning until midnight.
“I really found it enjoyable being out of the house, and I always like a challenge and a goal to meet,” he said. “I am also an organized person, so the work I put into this also made it enjoyable.”
Planning back-to-back sessions across a full year meant tracking showtimes and running times every single day, with the listings changing as new releases arrived and older films left the screens.
How he found the record
Hoskin discovered the challenge while browsing online. Two Guinness titles caught his attention: the most cinema screenings of the same film and the most films seen in a cinema in one year.
The first is held by Ramiro Alanis, from the United States, who saw Spider-Man: No Way Home 292 times. Hoskin said he could not beat that number because most films left his cinema quickly for streaming services.
Alanis reached 292 screenings while retaking his own record, Guinness notes.
So Hoskin chose the second title. He also said he was inspired by another movie fan at the same Regal theater who had attempted a similar record.
A plan built around winter
The start date was not random. “I found out everything that I would need to do beforehand, and planned to start in the spring so I would likely break the current record of 777 before winter,” Hoskin said.
“I hate driving in the winter, so anything after that was just extra,” he added.
Pennsylvania had a mild winter, according to Guinness, and the retiree was able to fit in far more films than he had expected when he started.
Cartoons, comedies and a surprise robot
Animated films were his favorites, perhaps because they are shorter and easy to enjoy. He also loved comedies and hearing the audience laugh at jokes he had already heard several times.
“I was surprised by some of the movies I liked, such as The Wild Robot, which was way better than expected,” Hoskin said. “I also enjoyed Deadpool & Wolverine. I can’t say there were any really bad movies, or ones I did not like!”
He said he prefers watching in a theater rather than at home. “It’s nice to get out of the house and see movies, especially comedies,” he said. “They seem to be better in a theatre with people.”
The staff helped him pick the shortest films
Hoskin got to know the theater workers and managers well during the year. They often helped him figure out which films were the shortest, so he could fit more of them into a single day. A shorter film can free time for one more session before midnight.
“The theatre workers and management were really helpful and I liked to get to know them,” he said.
For Hoskin, the routine was part of the appeal. He told Guinness he loved the camaraderie he found at the cinema and the daily rhythm of planning, watching and walking between sessions, something his retirement gave him time for.
Between sessions, he walked around the theater, inside and outside, as his daily exercise.
About US$28 a month for 1,207 films
The record was cheaper than it sounds. Hoskin has a Regal Unlimited card, a subscription that costs roughly US$28 a month and allows an unlimited number of films, Guinness says.
At that price, 12 months of the pass cost about US$336, or less than 30 cents per film over the 1,207 sessions.
He also prepared his meals at home and ate them between showtimes to save money, instead of spending at the concession stand.
Part of a wave of new records
His title joins a busy week for Guinness, which also processed records like the 33.4-meter Catrina in Mexico City’s Zócalo.
Unlike giant structures, Hoskin’s record was built one ticket at a time, across a full year in the same seats of his local cinema.
Guinness closed its announcement by saying that, whatever the future holds, this cinephile will be in his seat, waiting for the lights to dim. Will anyone ever sit through more than 1,207 films in a single year?
