The 2023 theatrical film landscape looks considerably busier than 2022, even so – we’re not back to normal yet.
UK film tech firm Gower Street has released its projections that the global box office will reach $29 billion in 2023 – up by 12% over 2022 should this year remain on course for an estimated $25.8 billion in box-office revenue (up 21% on 2021).
Should the projection hold, it means the industry is going to have to wait until at least 2024 to see a return to pre-pandemic global box office levels.
Even at current exchange rates, the projected number is still 27% behind the average of the last three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019), which hovered around the very low $40 billion range worldwide.
In those three years, the numbers annually consisted of a little over $11 billion in the U.S., around $9 billion in China and about $21 billion for the rest of the world. The 2023 prediction is for $8.6 billion in the U.S., around $5.6 billion in China and about $15 billion for the rest of the world.
The success of films like “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” among other titles, has drawn fans back to cinemas with “Avatar: The Way of Water” set to add more coin this year and well into next year.
2023 relis on the success of some high profile blockbusters, including “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Fast X,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Flash,” “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “The Hunger Games” prequel, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” “Oppenheimer,” “The Barbie Movie,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “Blue Beetle,” “Evil Dead Rise,” “Creed III,” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Cocaine Bear,” “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” “The Meg 2,” “The Nun 2,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2,” “Trolls 3,” “The Equalizer 3,” “The Expendables 4,” “The Exorcist 5,” Saw X,” “Gran Turismo,” “Wonka,” “A Haunting in Venice,” “Haunted Mansion” and more.
Source: Screen Daily
