Throughout the last months of 2024, foul-mouthed superheroes and family-friendly films supported the domestic box office.
At $8.74 billion, full-year ticket sales were down just 3.4% from 2023, a far cry from the roughly 27% shortfall that was observed at the halfway point of 2024.
Comscore data shows that a billion-dollar shortfall was reduced to just $300 million thanks to the release of Disney and Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, Pixar’s Inside Out 2, Disney Animation’s Moana 2, and Universal’s Wicked, all of which came out after June.
According to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, “the huge comeback that started in June due to the residual impact of the strikes and resultant production delays that threw the release slate into disarray in the early part of the year is nothing short of remarkable,” even though 2024 was one of the most difficult years ever for theaters.
Analysts forecast that the 2024 box office would fall well short of the $9 billion earned in 2023. After all, two labor strikes in Hollywood the previous year caused a disruption in the production schedule, pushing the release of key blockbusters into the second half of 2024. They even postponed some until 2025 and 2026.
Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory, stated that expectations going into the year were burdened with the weight of release delays brought on by industry strikes, in addition to the continuous adaptation to contemporary consumer habits that have taken hold in a world of shorter theatrical windows and increased demand for state-of-the-art experiences inside cinemas themselves.
After the box office saw consistent yearly rise in the wake of the epidemic, the first-half ticket sales dip was disappointing. Industry analysts do, however, predict a recovery in 2025 and the possibility of surpassing the $10 billion milestone in 2026.
Blockbuster franchises and movies based on well-known, pre-existing intellectual property are abundant in the upcoming two years. Additionally, 2024 has shown that moviegoers would still flock to these movies, despite some concerns that the industry has grown overloaded with licensed content, especially in the superhero genre.
The top ten highest-grossing movies of 2024 were actually all part of well-known IPs or series. And given that 2025 and 2026 are expected to be jam-packed with major titles, it is encouraging.
In a recent research report, Eric Handler, managing director at Roth MKM, stated that a franchise-heavy roster will resume this year. Avatar: Fire and Ash, Jurassic World: Rebirth, and Wicked: For Good should all be able to make above $400 million, making them contenders for the year’s highest gross.
Disney magic
Franchise movies helped Disney in especially in 2024. Three of the year’s top four grossing movies are produced by the company: Pixar’s Inside Out 2, Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, and Disney Animation’s Moana 2.
Inside Out 2 was the first movie since Warner Bros. Barbie to reach $1 billion at the worldwide box office, earning over $650 million domestically.
For Disney’s Pixar animation studio, this was a vital victory. After the epidemic, Pixar, a once-broadly popular studio, has seen a decline in movie office receipts. Disney’s decision to release a few animated films straight on the streaming service Disney+ both during and after theater closures has contributed to a lot of its problems.
Consequently, no Disney animated film from Pixar or its Walt Disney Animation studio had made more than $480 million at the worldwide box office since 2019 before Inside Out 2. In the end, Inside Out 2 became 2024’s highest-grossing movie.
Disney’s first-ever R-rated Marvel film came in second. When Deadpool & Wolverine first came out in theaters in July, it immediately set a record for the biggest R-rated movie launch ever. As the only R-rated movie outside of Warner Bros. Joker to reach the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, it also became the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has suffered from a lack of consistency at the box office following the record-breaking Avengers: Endgame in 2019, needs a lift from Deadpool & Wolverine.
Considering that Marvel has three big releases in 2025: Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Handler claimed that the superhero genre is looking for some sort of atonement.
Additionally, Warner Bros. will release its first movie under the new DC Studio directors, James Gunn and Peter Safran.With Joker: Folie a Deux’s dismal box office performance, all eyes will be on Superman: Legacy.
Moana 2, the fourth-highest-grossing movie of the year, was also released by Disney. With $221 million in domestic ticket sales, it broke the record for the highest-opening movie during the five-day holiday season when it arrived at Thanksgiving. It went on to earn nearly $900 million worldwide and $404 million domestically.
Together with other theatrical releases, these movies helped Disney earn almost $2.2 billion at the American box office last year, which is roughly 25% of the industry’s overall revenue.
With $1.8 billion in box office receipts for the year, Universal, driven by Wicked, Despicable Me 4, Twisters, and Kung Fu Panda 4, held a 21.6% market share. With $432 million in domestic receipts, Wicked broke the box office curse of movie musicals and became the third highest-grossing movie of 2024. Additionally, it became the most successful Broadway adaptation premiere in movie history.
With $1.19 billion, Warner Bros. held a 13.7% market share. Sony secured $1 billion, or 11.5%, while Paramount secured $880 million, or 10%, to complete the top five.
According to Dergarabedian, the late-year 24 moviegoing rally has set up a strong 2025 for movie theaters. The resulting momentum will almost certainly ensure even larger results for theatrical exhibition this year, especially considering the more steady calendar with a more orderly rhythm, regularity, and—most importantly—a greater number of wide release titles.
Disclosure: CNBC and NBCUniversal are owned by Comcast. Fandango is owned by NBCUniversal, which also distributes Wicked, Despicable Me 4, Twisters, and Kung Fu Panda 4.
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