Chaos Doesn’t Reign At The Summer Box Office With $ 3.35 Billion +, Shows Despite Trouble: Season End

Yes, at the fair, it’s cold there.

Despite a 91% recovery at the annual summer national box office, it was $ 1.755 billion in 2021 3.35 billion dollars in Comscore (until August 30) and a 90% explosion for the May Labor Day period in EntTelligence, of 153 million 291 meters Around the same time, some feel the need to cast a shadow and question the general health of the theater.

And after the weekend’s lowest of the summer at $ 53.3 million, as the industry braces for a month and a half of curtainless drought, it only makes you sweat more.

The easy flaw is the lack of a large launch inventory, which, with 102 titles planned this year, is down from 143 titles in 2019 before the pandemic for images pre-ordered over the opening weekend in more than 1,000 locations. Comscore currently has 84 general releases planned for 2023, but they could easily be added or subtracted.

exclaimed the head of a cinema chain when he contacted us recently Shazam: Wrath of the gods Leaving the Christmas season for March 17th next year (as Warner tries to take advantage of the Imax screens): “A move like this has a top-down effect. How do I explain to an employee of one of my theaters that they don’t take hours during the holiday week because there is less traffic? That’s a $ 3 million loss to my network. If a movie that could gross $ 200 million is no longer available on the market, that means 25% less business for that title for AMC and 17% less for Cinemark.

Add rumors that smaller theater owners are running out of Covid bailout funds, news that Cineworld is facing Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to a $ 5 billion debt for Regal’s US operations … and it looks like the movie is dead. Coast to coast theaters.

However, this is not a nuclear removal of the exhibit.

More to right the wrongs of the industry, which suffered a one-year closure that ended 17 months ago. The harsh reality is that it is simply Adam Smith’s invisible hand of economics, saving the best for theaters. There are about 5,400 theaters in North America, of which about 9% could be lost, distribution sources tell us. On any given weekend, a certain percentage of cinemas win all the money. In other words, even by pre-pandemic standards, it was never necessary to book a movie north of 4,000 locations. Such distribution maneuvers serve to strengthen the ego of the directors so that they can say that their film is being shown everywhere. Furthermore, the exhibition went through a bankruptcy cycle between 1999 and 2001 (more here).

While some exhibitors may complain about the studio’s high rental rates, they can’t complain that Hollywood hasn’t had a good summer season. It’s like blaming Unilever and Procter & Gamble for Target’s problems. Many of the dilemmas in the show were inherent before the pandemic, ie Cineworld bought the Regal at a very high price of $ 3.6 billion; For many, Chapter 11 should have been archived during the pandemic rather than preventing a covid shutdown.

Because here is an analysis that cannot be avoided; Here’s the root of the root, sprout and sky in the industry that’s doable: at the box office this summer (plus Sony’s $ 1.9 billion gross Christmas. Spider-Man: There is no way to go home) showed several entertainment executives that the film industry has unlimited and limited financial potential.

Streaming is no match for the tremendous progress cinema is making in post-revenue. Although Disney + streaming has 221.1 million subscribers in front of Netflix’s 220.67 million, as the latter has shown, they are human: volatility and capital are the way of the future, as we choose not to stay at home and it will always be more. direct. Sources tell me it has begun to evaluate OTT on the merits of revenue growth in subsidies. When it comes to getting all these OTT services for any content, “everything is a wash,” said the marketing and distribution veteran of streaming content glut, theatrical curation, and the nature of global marketing. axis. The payoff could be in all of these live movies costing between $ 100 million and $ 200 million, meaning users will realize they just need to make it more expensive. Budget Netflix Romantic Musical (We got it) purple hearts It topped the streamer’s all-time chart with 228.6 million hours, not far behind the Russo brothers. the gray man at 253.8 m. They found out that, the accounting department.

More on the summer preview: “So many movies have lost money,” a film funding source tells Deadline. “There have been very few bankruptcies in companies that have a higher risk profile.” Among them are Paramount / Skydance Black Screams. Top Gun: Maverick (1.4 billion dollars at the world box office), Universal’s Jurassic world: domination (that obviously billions of WW), Disney / Marvel Strange doctor in the multiverse of madness (WW $ 955 million), Minions: The Rise of Gru ($ 900 million goes to World War II), Thor: love and thunder ($ 747.7 million), including the $ 16 million horror film Uni / Blumhouse black phone ($ 157.2 million), while films such as Warner Bros. ‘ Elvis Overcompensated, it brought adults back (which upper gun 2 also done) with $ 277.4 million, and Sony Without Stars’ $ 24 million YA stock, where the crabs sing, Now in US $ 108 million WW.

Among the financiers and executives of increasingly large studios (read Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav) you find that nothing beats theater window money and its subsequent profits.

But what about the scarcity of films?

“Our business has a two-year cycle,” said a studio executive, “what you see at the box office, the studio conceived two years ago. What happened after the pandemic?”

Sure, some of the hits we had this summer were made before the pandemic, but there are other films that got the green light in a world where there were a lot of doubts about cinema (brilliant the beast), and lots of bets on streaming. We add production stoppages due to Covid, then supply chain problems due to post office overcrowding, and we have a drier third and fourth quarters.

To make another great Thanksgiving movie or to fill the void that was left Shazam: Wrath of the gods The study would have dated it. We understand that more mature titles can be scheduled for fall festivals. Proof that this post-production backup is real and not some kind of corporate spin – we heard it when it came to Universal’s sci-fi thriller. No, The film was released urgently on July 22 and received its first trial screening just 12 weeks before release (short track). The visual effects required more work, and filming was all finished and dirty before release. The film grossed $ 118.3 million, compared to just $ 150 million during World War II. Could the image have been better with another four or five months of posting? It just gives you an idea of ​​how old these shops are.

There is nothing wrong with being theatrical. As always, it’s all about movies.

A studio distribution executive said about the business now, “Are we healthy? No, are we going to die? We’re not cold.”

*****

For those wishing to know the share of the summer market at the box office, here is the summary for the period from 6 May to 6 August. 30 against 2019: universal functions / focus, 1.1 billion dollars (+ 105% from 2019); Disney / 20, $ 878.6 million (-63%); supreme, $ 753.2 million (+ 298%); Warner Bros., $ 236.4 million (-42%); Y Sony, $ 174 million (-75%). Other mentions include A24 with $ 52.5 million, Crispy roll with $ 32.6 million, depth events with $ 15.68 million Y Lionsgate $ 11.4 million (-96%). All data from Comscore. \

We will be updating after Labor Day weekend, so relax, study. Overall, the $ 3.35 billion summer box office is currently down 21% from summer 2019, which earned $ 4.25 billion through August 30.