Updated: The aftermath of Covid’s 2020-21 closure of cinemas will continue to be felt in 2023 as the domestic box office claws its way back to what many sources believe is an $8 billion-$9 billion result.On the high end, it’s a 22% jump from what Comscore is expecting 2022 to final at, that being $7.4B. This
year’s domestic box office also reps a 72% surge over 2021’s $4.3 billion.
While next year won’t be at the $11.3 billion 2019 level, confidence beams from studios and exhibition as the pandemic’s post-production logjam finally clears up with arguably a film for everyone every weekend, starting with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 17.
Something the industry will be happy to hear: There are 33 movies on the calendar that have the potential to gross well north of $100M stateside, which is more than the 29 titles that 2019 notched. It’s also up from 18 movies in 2022 and the 13 in 2021.
Yes, business looks to be improving, with 100 wide releases anticipated to hit the theatrical calendar next year. That’s still down by four movies from this year’s 104. Sources don’t believe we’ll be fully back in business until there are 120 titles. 2019 counted 143 wide theatrical releases. The box office year of normalcy, per those in film distribution and exhibition, keeps getting kicked down the road: It was supposed to be 2022. Now it’s not next year — it’s either 2024 or 2025.
However, the collapse that weighs heavy on several studio executives’ brows remains with original movies aimed at adults that are non-genre (meaning not action, not sci-fi, not horror). It’s not just specialty, highbrow titles but broader studio attempts as well.
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