When the sun sets at the box office of the 2020 film, it will be difficult to look at the numbers as anything but disastrous.
After five consecutive years of revenue in North America exceeding $ 11 billion, this year they should reach a maximum of almost 40 years, about US $ 2.3 billion. That will drop 80% from last year, according to data company Comscore. Globally, where markets have been able to recover more fully, ticket sales are likely to be between $ 11 and $ 12 billion. Last year, this total reached US $ 42.5 billion. But it is clear that 2020 is a year with a big asterisk.
“It’s a year like no other,” said Jim Orr, president of home cinema distribution for Universal Pictures. “We have never seen this small business in this industry.”
Outside January and February, it is impossible to judge the box office of the year by pre-pandemic standards. The box office, in total, is quite predictable in a normal year. But when theaters closed on March 20, “everything went out the window,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore. “The unpredictability has become constant.”
Most American theaters went unopened for six consecutive months during the summer season, which typically accounts for about 40% of the year’s profits. In the past two years, the summer film season has grossed more than $ 4.3 billion. This year, it raised $ 176.5 million, much of the drive-in movie theater.
“The drive-in has become the hero of the summer,” said Dergarabedian.
When indoor cinemas started reopening in late August and early September, capacity and product were limited. Currently, about 35% of cinemas are open in the United States and some of the largest markets, including New York and Los Angeles, remain closed. Although there has been a steady stream of new releases, the blockbuster tents have been few and far between. Some went to streaming services, others have become premium digital rentals, but simply retreated in 2021 and beyond.
Perhaps there is no more telling fact than 2020 was the first time in more than a decade without a Marvel film. The Walt Disney Co. superhero factory for the past two years has topped the year-end charts with “Avengers: Endgame ”And“ Black Panther ”, and regularly has two or more films in the top ten.
Unsurprisingly, the top 10 of 2020 is a little chaotic and mainly composed of films from the first two months of the year. Sony’s Will Smith sequel, “Bad Boys for Life ”It took first place in North America since its launch in January, with $ 206.3 million. Overall, it is in second place for the Chinese film “The Eight Hundred” – the first time that the most successful film in the world originated outside of Hollywood. The only post-shutdown films to reach the top 10 are the “Christopher Nolan Principles, ”In eighth place with $ 57.2 million and the animated family sequence“ The Croods: A New Age, ”Which was released on Thanksgiving and has raised $ 30.8 million so far to put it in 10th place.
And at least 15 films in the top 100 were retro releases, including “Hocus Pocus”, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.
“The good thing about movie theaters is that even though people had unlimited options at home, people were still looking for movies,” said Dergarabedian. “People want to leave the house and have fun. That desire has not changed, but the ability to do so has been profoundly limited. “
It even changed the way opening weekends, once a reliable indicator of a film’s long-term prospects, are judged and can stay that way for a while.
“The instant gratification we used to deliver on Sunday mornings after opening on Friday? It probably won’t happen again for a long time, ”said Orr.
Theaters have adopted improved security protocols and experimented with different ways to bring people back to seats, including renting private rooms, but the frequency during autumn and winter remained limited.
“People go to the cinema to escape. If you go to a cinema where you have to wear a mask and you have to sit apart and you have to be hyperconscious of what is around you, this is not how the theater experience should work, ”said John Sloss, director of the advisory firm of Cinetic media. “Judging this year in terms of theater attendance, I think you’re doing a terrible job of what’s really going on.”
Moviegoing in 2020 is the story of an industry that employs around 150,000 people struggling to stay afloat until normalcy returns, which everyone expects to happen even if it isn’t in the near future. Small cinema owners will have a little life with the pandemic relief package.
But the effects on business have been surprising and it may take a while for the full impact to be known, although there have been some historic developments and commitments. Some innovations were well received, such as Universal’s historic agreement with several exhibitors to shorten the theater window from 90 days to 17 days in some cases. Others, like Warner Bros. ‘decision to release all of its 2021 films on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously, there is not.
It is no secret that streaming services, whether by subscription or on demand, have filled a huge gap for movie fans looking for new content. While home-made options continue to compete with cinemas for the eyes of the consumer and dollars, few believe they are a death sentence for cinemas. In general, studios do not seek to abandon the theatrical model, even though some priorities have changed for streaming.
“I think there is a strong light at the end of the tunnel,” said Orr. “As vaccines continue to be implemented, I am 100% convinced that people will be rushing back to the cinemas when possible in their area. The model is not going away. “
Disney CEO Bob Chapek noted on the company’s recent investor day that they earned $ 13 billion at the box office in 2019.
“This is not something to despise,” said Chapek.
Last weekend, “Wonder Woman 1984”, which was available for broadcast on HBO Max for free, also grossed $ 16.7 million in 2,100 American theaters. That number would have been a disaster before. For the pandemic? It’s a record.
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Follow AP film writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr