THB #343: Box Office Status Check

Where we are, in domestic theatrical, as of June 26…

2023 - 63 wide releases (1000+ screens)
2022 - 37
2019 - 67
2018 - 66

So… the dearth of product exhibitors suffered through has been lessened to almost the same number of new wide releases, through June 26, as we had in 2019 and 2018 (the #2 and #1 grossing years at the box office in domestic history). Well done.

We’re still about 21% off 2019 overall and 31% off on new movies released this year vs the same in 2019 in terms of gross. So what is going on?

The actual movies and specific relationships with the must-see desire they create and the marketing and the timing are all major factors, too often forgotten or shoved aside when writers are looking to support an idea.

But for the moment, I too am looking for a somewhat too broad set of “rules” to explain why we are still off 2019.

This year, we have had 4 $100m+ openings, 1 more than in 2019. However, the 3 in 2019 are much more impressive.

2 of the 3 in 2019 were over $150 million (Aveng…