Retrospective: the cinema year in figures

Struggling in the United States to recover from the pandemic, the cinema industry experienced a year marked by some impressive records, memorable flops and a few scandals. Here’s a whirlwind of numbers that will turn heads…

In North America, the summer box office fell short of expectations. In fact, summer blockbusters grossed $3.6 billion according to the Comscore firm. This is well below the $4.09 billion for summer 2023. According to analysts, this drop is explained by the absence of a Marvel superhero film released in May.

Box-office mondial: le top 5

As of December 15, only two films had crossed the $1 billion mark in revenue this year. Proud moment: Dune: Part Two by Denis Villeneuve climbed into the Top 5 of the year.

• Upside Down 2: 1,69 G$
• Deadpool & Wolverine: 1,33 G$
• Hateful me 4: 969,45 M$
• Moana 2: 724,50 M$
• Dune: Part Two: 714,44 M$

The big Oscar winner? Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan, who left with seven statuettes, including that of best film. Barbieby Greta Gerwig, although a big favorite, only won one Oscar.

Denis Villeneuve achieved the feat of exceeding $1 billion in international box office revenue with his two feature films Dune. In total, the first and second parts of the science fiction saga starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya grossed $1.13 billion. Note that during its second weekend in theaters, 22% of the box office of Dune: Part Two was for IMAX theaters, the largest global weekend market share in IMAX history.

The gap between the income of actors and actresses has not decreased in 2024 according to the magazine Forbes. Adam Sandler is in the lead with revenues of $73 million for the past year. Margot Robbie is in second place with $59 million. Tom Cruise deposited $45 million into his account, followed by Ryan Gosling and Matt Damon who earned $43 million each. Thanks to royalties from the series FriendsJennifer Aniston is right behind them with $42 million and she herself is followed very closely by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jason Statham and their $41 million in income. Ben Affleck is in ninth position with earnings of $38 million and Denzel Washington closes this Top 10, the actor having earned $24 million this year.

Four pairs of red shoes (the ruby slippers) worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz from 1939 still exist. A pair, put up for auction in December, sold for $32.5 million, a record.

The top 5 local films

The year was memorable for Quebec films since five feature films exceeded the million dollar mark in revenue.

• Our sisters-in-law: 3,5 M$
• 1995: 3 M$
• The Christmas cyclone: 2,4 M$
• The little one and the old man: 1,5 M$
• The successor: 1 M$

Deadpool & Wolverine which brings together Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman is the holder of two records. The feature film became the most successful R-rated film during its first weekend in theaters, grossing $211.4 million at the North American box office. Additionally, with a total international box office of $1.33 billion, Deadpool & Wolverine dethroned The Joker with Joaquin Phoenix as the highest-grossing R-rated film.

The longest standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival? The one for La substance by Coralie Fargeat with Demi Moore which lasted 13 minutes.

As of December 15 and with worldwide revenues of $534.09 million, Wicked is the second highest-grossing film adapted from a musical behind Oh mama! (2008) and its revenues of $611.45 million.

On November 26, Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against the City of New York, seeking no less than $5 million in damages for their client. Indeed, the former producer whose actions started the #MeToo wave is said to be detained in deplorable conditions, both in terms of hygiene and medically. Remember that Weinstein, aged 72 and suffering from leukemia, is currently serving a sentence at Rikers Island.

According to figures compiled by Comscore, the biggest flop of the year would be Joker: madness for two. Todd Phillips’ film with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga would have cost between $190 and $200 million, excluding the promotion budget, and would have only grossed $204.8 million. The studios would therefore have a shortfall of… $125 to $200 million.