The numbers don’t lie. And for the first time since this damn coronavirus stopped making headlines, they are no longer making progress but are plunging into the red. In the United States, the world’s largest market, despite the strong comeback of Disney productions, cinema box offices took in “only” $8.75 billion. That is a drop of 3.3% compared to the 9.04 billion dollars of 2023. This shows that it will not be easy to catch up with the 11.3 billion dollars of 2019, or even simply the 10.9 billion dollars in 2013, twelve years ago. However, expenses continue to skyrocket. In 2024, the major studios will have squandered $126 billion on all their content (TV, cinema, streaming), an increase of 9% compared to the previous year.
Global box office in free fall
At the global level, the same trend is emerging. With a slightly more dizzying descent. Producers’ coffers swelled by $32.3 billion over the last twelve months, a decrease of 4.7% compared to $33.9 billion in 2023. However, Hollywood accountants were banking on continued growth of 5.5 % until 2029. According to this logic, the box office should therefore amount to 43.27 billion at the end of the year, and to 53.67 billion before entering into the 1930s. Predictions which seem quite unrealistic at present, especially given the frantic competition from streaming.
The 7th art could therefore well land with its feet on the ground this year, barring a cinephilic surge generated in particular by the 110 Hollywood films (15 more than last year) planned, as Avatar : Fire and Ash, F1, Superman or Zootopia 2. One thing is certain: 2025 will be a pivotal year for the future of cinema.
