Are there any lessons to be learned from 2022? Were your cinemas equipped and running properly? Were 2022’s cinematic releases up to par in a world coming out of a pandemic in order to get audiences back in theatres?
The good news, overall, is that 2022’s box office receipts ($7,366,449,255) were better than the receipts of 2020 ($2,113,846,800) and 2021 ($4,482,795,864) combined. However, the not-so-good-news is that 2022 lagged behind pre-pandemic 2019 ($11,363,360,889) by nearly $4B USD and was the lowest take since 1999 ($7,340,743,186), and that’s not counting for inflation.
Is this terrible news? Perhaps not. Taking into account the world in which we now live…post-pandemic whereas many are still not venturing into crowded situations such as movie theatres, how quickly theatrical releases are becoming available on streaming services and cable/satellite services, and the quality of many of the past year’s releases, 2022’s receipts are nothing to sneeze at.
Avatar: The Way of Water brought in $400,557,914 in December alone. Actually, that amount is only for a half month since it debuted on Dec. 16. Top Gun: Maverick raked in $718,732,821 domestic and nearly $1.5B USD total gross including international in 2022. Other chart toppers in 2022, including Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Batman, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and others all had impressive box off results. So, there are many bright spots the past 12 months to reflect upon.
December 2022’s top three, ruled by Avatar: The Way of Water, also included Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($61,995,816 for the month and total gross of $433,145,653), and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish ($55,587,330 which debuted Dec. 21).
According to the Hollywood reporter, from a cocaine bear to a Willy Wonka origin story and the latest in the John Wick, Aquaman and Mission Impossible franchises, there is a lot to look forward to in 2023. This year, we will see new movies from Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and Nia DaCosta and long-awaited titles such as the live-action Barbie movie and the Spider-Verse follow-up.
How will we do in 2023? Only time will tell, but we continue to be optimistic. We hope your theatres are ready, and we would like to discuss how we can help with that.
We hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday season.
See you at the movies!